Finding Lily Evans
by ContemporaryManner
Summary: something goes horribly wrong with Lily's charmwork and she's doomed to time travel against her will. a teenage dumbledore? being your own grandmother? a glimpse into hp's future? you bet! ABANDONED
1. When Good Pensieves go Bad

A/N: i beg you, my readers, of your forgiveness while you read my really, really stupid writing. read and review please! i love flames so give them to me and i'll make my writing better! :-D oh, and i don't own harry potter or any of those characters, but if i did, i'd have all the bad guys in my bedroom in a heartbeat ;-)  
  
August 25th, 1972 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft  
  
Lily Evans fidgeted in the uncomfortable armchair her Charms' professor had pulled out for her. Professor Flitwick was fairly young, but it was suspected he had elvish blood in him, for the man was very small and spoke in a high-pitched, sometimes squeaky voice. He was, however, astoundingly good with his charms.  
"Now then Ms. Evans," the professor squeaked while dangling his midsection over his trunk, rummaging through junk, "I believe I have it around here somewhere........aha!"  
The professor grunted and Lily saw that he was struggling to lift a heavy, black object that looked like a cauldron. She got up and went to try and to help him, but then Flitwick fell off the trunk, stumbling wildly backwards, crashing into Lily, who in turn stumbled into a cage, which contained on odd-looking bird. The door had came loose and strangely, the bird was now flying around the room squawking:  
"Dung pie! Dung pie! Lot of y'all!"  
It had an interesting Scottish accent.  
"Professor, I'm so sorry........" Lily tried to say, while jumping up and down in a feeble attempt to recapture the insane bird.  
"Ah, no! No, Ms. Evans!"  
But it was too late. The bird had turned onto Lily and was now proceeding to peck her hair out madly.  
"Accio Janathu!"  
The bird flew into the cage, and the door slammed with a resounding crash.  
"Dammit," the bird cussed under its breath.  
Professor Flitwick shook his head, "Terribly sorry about that, Ms. Evans. One of our students put a particularly well placed charm on the Janathu, and now it won't stop insulting anyone who comes within fifty miles of it. Rather dangerous, since we had those blokes from the Soviet Union over to visit Dumbledore the other day........creature wouldn't desist in calling them a bunch of 'pig-faced, red-arsed commie basties'."  
Lily giggled, but Flitwick just sighed and placed the black cauldron- resembling object heavily onto his desk.  
"You're a bright girl, Ms. Evans. By far one of my best Charms students, although to be fair, I've only been here for three years so........Anyways!" he clapped his hands gleefully, "It is my pride and joy to present you with.......do you know what this is called?"  
But instead of trying to identify the thing, Lily interrupted:  
"Who charmed the bird?"  
"Who else? Potter and Black."  
"Anything to get attention," Lily huffed, but her ears grew red.  
Flitwick chortled, "Yes, yes, well. Let's not dwell.........as I was saying—no, I do believe I asked you if you knew what this was."  
Lilly snapped back to reality; she had been thinking furiously about how egotistical James Potter could be. The black thing looked unordinary, but as she peered into it—  
"Why! It's a Pensieve!"  
Again, Flitwick clapped his hands in delight. "Indeed! And you know of its purpose?"  
"Oh, yes. They allow you to reflect on your thoughts easily, try to make sort out of them."  
"Yes, well, close enough. It's a complicated thing. Like all magical objects it has risks........but they're very rare. Anyway, Ms. Evans, after class today we discussed the properties of an Avelford Charm. Very difficult magic; it took even myself a full three years to learn how to do it properly, and of course, you have to be the sort who can clear your mind very well. I must warn you Ms. Evans, the risks of the Pensieve combined with the risks of performing such an advanced charm could combine and cause a disastrous event. Now are you absolutely sure you want to try this?"  
"Yes Professor." Lily nodded eagerly.  
"Well, I dare say........I'm a bit nervous about this, seeing as you're only a second year—but outstanding talent at charms Ms. Evans........outstanding......."  
Lily had stepped up to the Pensieve and was about to remove a thought from her mind and put it in the Pensieve when she noticed how old it was.  
"It's quite old isn't it?"  
"Oh. Well, yes. It's actually rather ancient; I believe it dates back to the times before the founders of the school. It belonged to the ancestor of Rowena Ravenclaw, and it's been passed down the centuries ever since."  
"Wow," Lily breathed, "That is old."  
She put her wand to her head and drew a long, silvery strand and it dropped into the silvery liquid. There was a disturbance on the surface, and then the liquid settled back into its placidness.  
"Very good! Continue, please."  
Lily prodded the Pensieve with her wand, and without warning she was falling, falling, into darkness. She hit the ground, her robes splayed and her wand on the ground next to her.  
She was in the Great Hall on the first day of school at Hogwarts in her first year. Was that her, so small, pale and terrified looking, huddled in that group? She immediately spotted James Potter sneaking up behind her. Lily knew what was going to happen, and she floated effortlessly, so that instantaneously, she was next to her younger self and James's younger self.  
  
She tried to speak, but her voice was echoing, and apparently nobody could hear her. The frog went down her robes and she shrieked loudly.  
Albus Dumbledore halted in the middle of his speech and looked at Lily Evans, not reproachfully, but with mild curiosity.  
"Is there a problem?" he asked with genuine curiosity.  
Meanwhile Lily the Younger was doing a strange sort of dance, slapping at her robes where the lump of a frog was moving. James, however, was roaring with laughter and Sirius Black looked on with admiration.  
"Nice man," he muttered to James, "Very good. Bit amateurish though."  
"It's good enough. James Potter," he held out his hand.  
"Sirius Black, pleasure observing. I can see we're going to get along very, very well."  
The two boys, already now fast friends, clapped each other's backs and went on to observe Lily's amusing dance.  
If Lily were entirely solid, she would have been blushing furiously at the sight of her younger self shrieking and hopping about while all of the Great Hall looked on, gaping, and Albus Dumbledore standing, looking on in amusement, his short welcome having been interrupted.  
When the frog finally jumped out ("Oh Ned!" a boy cried, diving for the frog, "There you are!" "Frank, no!" a girl screamed, and another boy rolled his eyes, "Good to see Longbottom's found his frog."), Dumbledore cleared his throat.  
"As I was saying before Ms. Evans took it upon herself to be this night's entertainment—very generous if I may say Ms. Evans—would the first years please step up and be sorted into their Houses?"  
"This way first years!" McGonagall snapped, and the crowd of first years followed her, James and Sirius looking greatly amused, a peaky- looking boy who kept looking anxiously above at the enchanted ceiling where the moon was shining, almost full, and a small, rotund boy who had a rather rat-like appearance about him included.  
No names were read aloud for the sorting. Instead each first year was shoved gently towards the stool, and the hat was pulled over their eyes. It would then call out their House and the House table would erupt in applause.  
Lily glided towards the stool and watched on in interest as each of her now twelve-year-old or thirteen-year-old classmates were sorted in their Houses.  
The quartet, James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin were sorted into Gryffindor of course. Upon sitting down, James accidentally knocked himself into Lupin, but Lupin grinned half-heartedly and said something. Sirius barked a laugh and James grinned. They shook hands and made introductions. Peter looked onto them longingly.  
When it was Lily's turn—that is, the younger Lily—to be sorted, Lily's own heart beat in quick anticipation on her younger counterpart's behalf. Lord, she looked so terrified, Lily was surprised she didn't faint back then.  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
The table erupted in hearty applause and cheers, and James made a little flourish of a bow towards her as she walked shakily to the table. However, Lily could see that even at that moment, her younger self could still manage to shoot a baleful glare at him. Good girl, she silently congratulated her younger self.  
"Lily?"  
It was Flitwick's voice? It sounded booming and very animated; what was he doing here? Lily looked around her.  
"Lily? Will you be performing the Avelford Charm soon?"  
Of course! It was Professor Flitwick's voice speaking to her from the outside of the Pensieve. She did need to perform the charm, but first she needed to find somewhere isolated so people wouldn't see another Lily Evans appear out of thin air. The charm was supposed to make a Pensieve experience become real; in a way, it was time travel even. Once you performed it, only an outsider of the Pensieve could make it so that you didn't have to relive your past up until the present moment you performed the charm, and bring you back home outside the Pensieve. That was what Professor Flitwick was there for.  
A strange tugging wouldn't allow her to leave the Great Hall. The tables were now engorging themselves onto the feast and paid her no attention still. She couldn't leave the room.  
"Lily, you can't abandon your younger self. You can't go somewhere other than where you are in a Pensieve because your thoughts can't recreate what you couldn't see or process when you were living out that experience the first time around," Professor Flitwick's booming voice reminded her.  
Lily knew that; she just temporarily forgot it. So she opted for crawling under one of the tables and performing the charm. She would time travel for a brief second and then upon seeing her success, Professor Flitwick would incite the counter charm, bringing her back home.  
It was crowded, slightly dusty, and feet constantly passed through her. It was an eerie feeling, having somebody else's body part just passing through you even if you weren't solid. This is how ghosts must feel, Lily thought to herself.  
"Ave—Aveshfloor—  
Somebody's foot passed right through her face, shocking her.  
"Avelforno Avelford!" she finished after stumbling.  
"NO!" she heard Professor Flitwick's voice scream.  
The Pensieve seemed to be collapsing around her. The skies—the ceiling—broke apart in jagged pieces, and the ground shook horribly as if the world were coming apart. And the funny thing was, while everybody was getting torn apart with jagged edges (it was almost like being in a drawing a two-year-old was ripping up), they kept right on talking, eating, and laughing. They didn't know what was happening.  
Lily screamed in terror as the blackness that seeped through the tears enveloped her. It froze her, made her so cold........  
  
A/N: review please! it's button right there...you can do it! go team, go! (i'm sorry; i've acted really weird again) 


	2. Close encounters w an Adolescent Albus

A/N: I promise there will be more interesting years........lots of james, sirius, snape, and of course the golden trio. no use excluding all the hot guys, and keep reading please....and always remember the magic word: REVIEW!!yay! go team go! (and just in case you're wondering, i'm NOT a cheerleader. i hate them. and if you're a cheerleader, no offense; i'm sure you're a really, really nice person and you don't mean to do the world bad by cheering)  
  
December 21st, 1854 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft  
  
Lily awoke to a feeling of warmth and comfort. She ran her fingers over the sheets she was now lying in, and inhaled. It smelled like healing wing Madam Luan healed everyone in.  
"You should rest up a bit dear," a woman's voice advised her. It was in a very strange Cockney accent.  
"Where am I?" Lily whispered.  
"Hogwarts. You're in the infirmary, and you've taken a knocking to in the head."  
"Oh," Lily turned around, her face pressing into her pillow, "I'm glad Professor Flitwick got me out."  
"Pardon me?" the voice was nearer now, and she could feel a breeze when the woman stepped up to the bed's side.  
"The Pensieve. I'm glad I'm out."  
"Hmm. You should rest up more."  
"Right."  
Lily fell asleep.  
  
She woke up again, to find a boy looming over her.  
"Madam Kingsley requests you come with me. There's just been a bloody Quidditch game, and that's in the literal sense," he explained.  
"Oh." Lily did feel better. "Well, okay."  
The boy gave her a queer look, but said nothing. Lily climbed out of her hospital bed, and indeed there were many, many students with bloodied faces, broken arms, legs, and other various joints. There was just one problem: she didn't recognize any of them.  
"Hmm."  
"We'll take you to the headmaster," the boy decided, "He'll know what to do with you."  
Lilly frowned.  
"What do you mean, 'He'll know what to do with you'?"  
The boy gave her another strange look, but then shrugged.  
"You're not from around here, and we don't know how you got here. You were found just outside of the Forbidden Forest by our gamekeeper unconscious. I'm assuming you're a witch."  
Lily just gaped at the boy.  
"Of course I'm a witch. I've been going here for nearly two years."  
The boy stopped walking. Lilly suddenly became all too aware of her surroundings. The castle looked pretty much the same, but devoid of some more modern decorating and fashion that Lilly had grown accustomed to. Whether or not wizards and witches liked to admit it, Muggle culture did heavily influence their choice of hairstyle or pop culture, and what she was seeing was nowhere near the circa 1970's era she knew and loved at Hogwarts.  
Girls were very few in number and often stayed closer together than normal. Their hair was very stiff and formal, and under the school robes were pinched waists and billowing skirts. The boys also had more severe haircuts, wore strange shoes and pants, and some of the older boys, the ones in their sixth and seventh years, had long unstylish sideburns and mustaches.  
Sideburns and mustaches were very hip in 1972, but somehow........now it just seemed wrong on these people. The boy who was looking at her in interest was her own age, almost thirteen. His hair was auburn, a reddish- brown color, and he had clear blue eyes. His nose was long and straight, his hands were large for his size with very long fingers, and he had what seemed to be a permanent curl of his right lips, giving the impression of a very friendly and appreciative humor-wise smirk.  
"I—uh—  
Lilly didn't know what to say.  
"The headmaster........" the boy prompted her.  
"Well, um. It's just that........" Lily shut her mouth. She would figure out everything with the headmaster, but the previous day's experiences came to her: the torn Pensieve images, the failed charm, Professor Flitwick's scream, and now waking up in a Hogwarts where she recognized no one and everyone was dressed and acting like something out of a Jane Austen book (a Muggle author).  
Come to think of it, the boy did look a little familiar, but it was a fleeting thought, just a hint of deja vu. They were now walking towards Dumbledore's office. Lily was relieved; if anyone could reassure and explain everything to her, it was Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts Headmaster.  
The stone gargoyle was formidable as always, dutifully guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office.  
"Grindenwald," the boy spoke to the gargoyle.  
Lily was about to object, to tell the boy that 'Grindenwald' would not be a password Dumbledore would choose, but to her surprise, the gargoyle moved upwards, creating a staircase. Uneasy, Lily followed the boy up to Dumbledore's office.  
Sitting in a chair was Dumbledore, but his back was faced towards them. Still, Lily could recognize those hands with the long fingers anytime.  
"Dumbledore, sir," the boy bowed his head, "There's some kind of strangeness going on."  
"Sit down Albus. Have the girl sit down too."  
Lily felt like her heart had jumped out of her throat, did a little jig on the desk, and jumped right back down her throat and into her chest cavity. The voice was not Dumbledore's. It was totally different, and did he just call the boy Albus?  
No biggie. Albus was a common name wasn't it? The boy tugged Lily's robes, motioning for her to sit down. She consented.  
The man swiveled around in his chair, and the first thing that came to Lily's mind was that he strongly resembled the Dumbledore she knew. He was an old man, not nearly as old as Albus Dumbledore, his face was all wrong though, and his hair was more white than silvery, but the man and the boy, Albus, shared the same clear blue eyes and hands.  
"What is your name?" the man asked Lily kindly but firmly.  
"Lily Evans," she choked up.  
"Is there something wrong?" the man—Dumbledore—asked.  
"Ah, um. Everything."  
Dumbledore frowned, but the boy merely looked on with interest.  
"How is everything wrong?" the boy asked with genuine curiosity. Again, Lily had a fleeting feeling of deja vu, but this time it was accompanied with an image of an older Albus Dumbledore asking a dancing first year Lily who had a frog in her robes if there was anything wrong in a polite way.  
"This might sound really stupid," Lily apologized, "But what's the date?"  
Dumbledore-who-was-not-really-Dumbledore looked surprised. He had been expecting something more shocking.  
"I believe it's December 21st."  
"December 21st!" Lily was shocked. Still, there was another nagging thought, but it sounded even stupider.  
"Um........December 21st of what year?"  
Dumbledore frowned again and the boy leaned his chin into his right palm, still looking at Lily with curiosity and interest.  
"1854 my dear child; it is December 21st of 1854."  
Lily's heart did the weird jumping thing again and her throat was choked up.  
"There's just a small problem with that."  
"What is that?"  
"From where I'm from, it's supposed to be at Hogwarts, August 25th, 1972."  
There was a moment's silence.  
Finally, somebody spoke, but it wasn't Dumbledore, it was the boy:  
"Are you telling us you are from a hundred and eighteen years in the future?"  
"I was trying to do an Avelford Charm with my charms professor," Lily explained.  
Dumbledore still looked confused, but the boy nodded in understanding.  
"Ah. And you experienced the ripping effect?"  
"It seems so." Lily was very impressed. In fact she was blown away.  
"How did you know that?" she asked.  
Dumbledore chuckled, "Albus is one of the brightest boys there are. Perhaps even the brightest. His knowledge of magic is most impressive and his teachers exclaim him to be destined a great wizard."  
The boy didn't try to act modest, but Lily could tell he wasn't over pleased with Dumbledore bragging.  
"In fact, I do recall my very own professor talking about that particular charm in my seventh year here," Dumbledore continued, "Very nasty piece of work if I may say. And I'm impressed you've recovered; the ripping effect is supposed to be quite daunting."  
The boy—Albus—nodded his agreement.  
"Well then," Dumbledore said briskly, "I don't really know what to do other than offer you lodging for however long you may be here."  
"But........won't I be stuck here?"  
The boy grinned, his eyes twinkling (again with the deja vu!).  
"Ah, but the ripping effect; it doesn't keep you in one place and time for very long. Most often it's just about twenty-four hours—one day—but sometimes it can last up to a week and sometimes you'll be one place for only a second. Very unpredictable. Unless your professor—Flitwick was it?—can locate where you are in time and perform the counter charm, I'm afraid you're at the mercy of the charm's wishes." The boy smiled a sympathetic smile, "My condolences, but that's just how it is."  
Dumbledore nodded his agreement, "I told you he was a bright boy. Now if you'll go with him........yes dear, down the steps—try to avoid hitting your head on that fixture; the ceiling's a bit low there—if you'll follow my boy Albus, he'll show you a room. Your house is Gryffindor I presume?"  
"Yes," Lily confirmed.  
"As I guessed," he smiled, his eyes flickering to her flaming, red hair, "Well then, I do hope I'll see you around. Farewell."  
When the boy and Lily were outside of the gargoyle once more, Lily raised her eyebrows at the boy.  
"You're his boy?"  
The boy nodded and his curled lip deepened into a subtle smile:  
"He's my grandfather."  
Then it dawned on Lily. She knew why the boy was so familiar now!  
"You're Albus Dumbledore!" she gasped.  
  
A/N: yes, i know. a pathetic attempt at a cliffhanger, but hang in there. i promise lots of exciting new chapters........that is—(you know what's coming next don't you)—if you review! flames please! bad stuff about me and my writing. i'll accept good stuff too........that'll be good........::eyes dart around wildly:: okay sorry i'll stop now 


	3. The Mysterious and Handsome James

A/N: OMG. i had to say that............because i've just been hit by a brilliant stroke of genius! You HAVE to finish this now.....—stick with me and i SWEAR you'll be dropping dead at the end. haha, well read on and please review and flame!  
  
December 21st, 1854 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft  
  
Albus Dumbledore in his second year was about to open his mouth, but a dizzying sensation rushed through Lily. The world rumbled, and again, the skies and ground experienced that ripping effect. Everything came apart, the blackness devouring her once more.  
She did not lose consciousness this time, and when she opened her eyes once more, the skies were dark and stormy. Great, black, rolling clouds thundered over the grounds of Hogwarts, the castle briefly being illuminated between each clap of thunder and flash of lightning. Great, thick white-hot bolts ripped the sky in half, and the shores of the lake were huge tsunamis. They washed up on shore, nearly drowning the trees that were unfortunate enough to have been planted nearby.  
The sheets of rain that were pummeling her immediately soaked Lily, and she pulled her robes around her, shivering. Her wand was still tucked away inside her robes, safe and dry, but she didn't dare to pull it out when there were such gales of monstrous winds and ankle-deep water.  
Lily struggled upwards the steep hills and slopes where the castle rested upon, constantly slipping in the mud and the waterfalls of rainwater flooding down the hills. She pieced together everything she just had experienced, and she concluded that the ripping effect had taken place once more and she was now outside Hogwarts sometime in the past or the future.  
She cried aloud, banging the doors with her fists, but nobody immediately came. Lily stood out in the rain, shivering terribly, until a ghost she did not recognize drifted through the walls of the great, oak doors.  
"Good God!" it cried, "I'll fetch someone immediately. Stay where you are."  
The ghost vanished through the doors, and momentarily she found herself once again facing a very familiar face. The clear blue eyes penetrated hers, and everything seemed to be the same, with the exception of the Adam's apple bulging from his throat, a slight shadow over the sides of his face and upper lip, longer hair, and a young man's body.  
His eyes widened only slightly, but then he smiled.  
"Ah, you again! I was wondering when we would get the privilege to meet again."  
  
October 13th, 1859 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft The Gryffindor Dorms  
  
"Come quietly; everyone is still asleep," Albus whispered to Lily.  
Lily nodded, again warm and dry. Albus had made fast work of her, charming her dry and clean.  
"I never did find out your name." Lily was pleased that although he must be nearing eighteen, he still had that same curl to his right lips.  
"Evans," she replied, "Lily Evans."  
"Albus Dumbledore. But you of course, knew that."  
"Yes."  
"I don't know how long you'll be staying Ms. Evans, but I don't think it will be much longer this night. When you're a victim of the ripping effect of the Avelford Charm, the trips at first are very short, nearly instantaneous. Then you'll experience only brief glimpses of different times and places before finally settling down in eras where the stay will be prolonged. After that, the time will grow longer and longer between trips. Eventually," Albus paused for effect, "Eventually, you'll be trapped in a random time."  
His eyes looked solemn, and for a brief moment, the curl to his lips disappeared.  
"You'll be needing your rest."  
Lily could only nod, thinking on what he had just said.  
"It's empty. I can't go up with you without setting off the defense mechanism. Good night, Ms. Evans."  
Before he left, Lily could catch a glimpse of a shining badge on the front of his robes.  
Albus Dumbledore  
Head Boy  
  
Lily smiled to herself, despite the circumstances. She should've expected that, but somehow she couldn't see Dumbledore holding a position of power and lording it over other people. He probably didn't anyway........Lily fell asleep momentarily, once her head was rested comfortably on a pillow.  
  
August 24th, 1945  
  
The Ministry of Magic  
  
Lily opened her eyes, only to find herself on a hard, wooden desk. She sat up abruptly, scanning her surroundings quickly. The rooms were dark; twilight was still falling, and everyone had seemingly abandoned their workplaces. Lily had never been to the interior of the Ministry of Magic before, but there was a wizard's calendar suspended on the cubicle wall above the desk she was lying on. It was August 24th, 1945, and the great, looping words 'The Ministry of Magic Yearly Calendar' was scrawled in shimmering ink near the top.  
Loud noises came from a room spilling with bright incandescent light. Band music was playing, shouts and yells of drunken laughter exploded, and there was a general atmosphere of enjoyment.  
"The war is over!" cries erupted, "Grindenwald is defeated! Here be ye, Albus Dumbledore, here be ye!" Loud crashes exploded as mugs of fire whiskey were crashing together, saluting Albus Dumbledore.  
Before Lily could peek into the room, everything ripped apart again, the blackness once again coming. It was much faster this time though.  
  
Images raced before her eyes. She was dangling from a branch from a suspiciously familiar tree that kept trying to maim her. She then recognized it. It was the Whomping Willow! It was much larger and stronger than it was when it was first planted just a year ago, in 1971. With excitement, Lily realized she must be in the future this time.  
Blackness.  
The giant squid's tentacles were fluttering over her, gently prodding her. Faces stared at her.  
"Remus!" she cried aloud, her voice echoing, distorted by time.  
"Lily?"  
"Remus, you're different!" And at the same time, he cried, "Lily, you're different!"  
"You're a teenager!"  
"You're a child!"  
Indeed Remus had reached the middle of his teen years, not the twelve- year-old boy she left. He was taller, had developed a wiry figure with a substantial amount of muscles. He had long hair, but it wasn't feathered like the style was.  
"What are you—  
Blackness  
  
Again, rain slapped her in the face. She was in Hogsmeade, but it was unrecognizable. The old buildings were now ancient and at the same time twisted, strange, futuristic looking Muggle cars were zooming outside the village. Drunken laughter escaped from a battered Three Broomsticks, and Lily fought her way through the inclement weather to see inside.  
"James!"  
A man who looked like a dead ringer for a much older James was sitting at a table with an attractive-looking woman with wavy brown hair and a middle-aged, charismatic-looking man with red-orange hair more explosive than her own. He frowned and looked up at her, his eyes growing wide—  
His green eyes?  
Blackness.  
  
She was in a lovely house, but it was very dark and had a sinister air to it. It was crackling with electricity, anticipation, and most of all, evil and terror.  
"No!"  
Her voice! Was that her voice? It was escaping from a room with a closed door. Lily reached out for it, but she was slowed with the distortion from time, and a blinding green light flashed through the cracks of the door. A thumping sound was made; it sounded like a body hitting the floor. Lily froze, terrified.  
Blackness.  
  
November 6th, 1972 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft Professor Flitwick's Charms Classroom  
  
"Lily! Lily, wake up!"  
Lily's eyes flew open, and to her immense relief, she found herself facing Professor Flitwick.  
"Professor!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "You've saved me!"  
But tiny Flitwick shook his head 'no'. Lily noticed the classroom of students gaping at her, in visible terror and shock. She recognized James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and her best friend Alice. Thankfully, they were all the age they should be: twelve. But........they did look a little older didn't they?  
"I'm so glad you've helped me, Professor!"  
"No. Dumbledore and the rest of the professors and I still haven't located you Ms. Evans. You're still experiencing the ripping effect."  
Lily's face fell, and she promptly burst into tears. Her body was slowly becoming more and more solid.  
"The bright side is, you've reached stability. The darker side of that is that reaching stability means you're now at the beginning of the end."  
"What........what do you mean?"  
"Dumbledore—I thought Dumbledore told me he had explained it to you........a good many years ago if my understanding's correct. Your trips are going to become more prolonged, eventually ending up with you stuck in a time that is not your own. Unless we can get you out........" Flitwick looked so pale and scared for Lily.  
The students were finally comprehending what was happening. Lily was still lost to the Avelford Charm; she had not returned. Alice was tearing up.  
"Oh, Lily! I've missed you so!" she hugged Lily tightly now that Lily was nearly solid, "You won't believe how dreadful it's been........"  
James was gaping at her, with his mouth wide open. Then he closed it, and returned to attempting to do a Silencing Charm, but his eyes flickered over to Lily. He looked as if he was longing to make a joke or play a prank on her, but Sirius shook his head 'no', and James stopped looking at her.  
"Now then, Ms. Evans........if you'd like to rest up in the dorms a bit," Professor Flitwick motioned towards the door, "Or you can stay for class. We've only just begun, and we're working on Silencing Charms."  
"I'll—I'll stay," Lily straightened herself up, now her former bold self.  
"Joy to the world," James muttered. Remus elbowed him sharply, and Lily was thunderstruck, her face growing hot with anger. She didn't say anything though.  
"Now then, Mr. Potter," Professor Flitwick chided him, "If you would, Ms. Evans." He motioned to an empty seat next to Frank Longbottom. He needed a partner.  
"Hi Frank," Lily smiled at Frank Longbottom.  
The boy smiled a timid smile, "Hey Lily. Are you all right?"  
"So far. It's kind of tiring, but I think I'm getting the hang of everything."  
Frank nodded, "Sweet. So I'll go first........Silencio!"  
The toad in front of him promptly stopped croaking.  
Lily was impressed, "Was that your first try?"  
"Second," he replied. Lily never had Frank Longbottom in her Charms class, but he was pretty good in all of the other classes he was in with her. He was a decently talented wizard.  
Lily raised her wand and with just the barest flicker and normally speaking the incantation, the toad in front of her too stopped croaking. Frank was impressed.  
"That was good. Did you know how to do that Charm?"  
Lily smiled and nodded, "Yeah. The reason we weren't in Charms class together last year was because I was working personally with Professor Flitwick in that area, but I'm with everyone else in every other class.  
"Sweet."  
Lily was liking Frank very much. Her heart was fluttering a little bit and her face was growing hot enough to know that she had developed a crush on Frank Longbottom. He was okay-looking, with the standard brown hair and brown eyed traits, but he was more heavily built than the other boys and was one of the first amongst the boys in third year who had started looking more like a man.  
When Charms was over, Professor Flitwick advised her to go to Dumbledore's office and talk to him.  
"But Ms. Evans? I think you should be made aware of this:  
When you were trapped by the Avelford Charm, another copy of you was made. A second Lily so to speak. She's the exact same person as you are, and for the past two or so months she's been attending Hogwarts same as you are."  
Professor Flitwick paused to see how Lily was taking this.  
"But—but how is that possible?"  
"We're not sure. The laws of time and space are extremely muddled. The point is, now wherever you go in the years of your lifetime, there will always be a second copy of yourself, living out the life you'd have lived if this whole disaster hadn't happened. Also........I should probably tell you that I've been exchanging notes with my future self in a book I've enchanted—he informs me there will be other incidents including you jumping into another person's body while experiencing the ripping effect. The result is a temporary possession, at least until you're ready to jump again."  
"Possession?" Lily was revolted.  
"Please—you've done so well so far. Please try to calm down." Professor Flitwick's voice was pleading.  
Lily shivered.  
"I'll be fine," she said, trying to smile for her professor's reassurance.  
"All right," he smiled, and chirruped, "Off you go then!"  
Lily left, stumbling into a seventh year girl.  
"Lily?" she frowned, "But I just saw you in the library........oh well." She walked off.  
Lily realized that must be where her second copy must be. She hurried towards Dumbledore's office before taking a chance on bumping into herself. When she reached the gargoyle however, she found that her second copy had been thinking alike. Lily No 2 blushed furiously when she saw Lily.  
"I—I know about you........Dumbledore told me all about it, and I suppose I should be all right with the idea by now, but when I heard the rumor about you coming back—I didn't know what to do. I guess we had the same idea." She smiled tentatively.  
"I—you—  
Before Lily could finish, Dumbledore was sweeping down the stairs, his long robes trailing behind him. His eyes were twinkling kindly.  
"Aha! I see you two have gotten acquainted already. I'm delighted!" But then Dumbledore started walking by them, leaving Lily and Lily No 2 not knowing what to do.  
"Wait, Headmaster!" they both cried out at the same time.  
Dumbledore paused and turned around, a kind expression still on his face.  
"But Headmaster—"Lily spluttered; she couldn't quite get used to speaking with the old Dumbledore she knew so well after encountering his younger self, "But........what are we going to do?"  
"You'll do as you do every day. Attend class (hopefully), socialize, and maybe take an occasional meal and a good night's sleep here and there?"  
The man was serious!  
"Oh, well—  
The two Lily's were obviously flustered.  
"Is that all? I have an appointment with Hagrid for a cup of tea. He wants to go over a few things with me........" Dumbledore bowed his head slightly and walked away.  
Lily No 2 turned to face Lily.  
"Well, I guess we'll have to get used to this."  
"Yeah," Lily nodded.  
"Let's........let's try not to bump into each other too often."  
"Let's not," Lily agreed.  
The two identical girls smiled at each other and went their separate ways. When Lily was walking down the corridor, a boy's voice barked after her.  
"Yo! Evans wait up!"  
It was that Potter boy! James Potter. What did he want?  
"Hey Evans, you monkey face, wait up!"  
Lily sighed with exasperation and turned around.  
"Oh," James Potter was taken back slightly, "You're the younger Lily."  
"No, I'm Lily," she snapped.  
James bumped into her slightly so that her wand fell to the ground.  
"Whoops. Let me help you with that."  
He stooped down, picked up the wand, and presented it to her, bowing gracefully.  
"May I have the pleasure of walking you to class ma petite?" He smirked.  
"Uhhh!" Lily groaned in exasperation. The egotism of that boy! She left him standing in the corridor, bewildered.  
  
A/N: I promise it gets more interesting—it just takes some time to develop. you know the drill: read, review, and flame! thanks so much! :-D 


	4. The Future is cue drumroll NOW!

November 7th, 1972 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft Gryffindor Dorms  
  
Lily woke up in the morning to the comfort of the four-poster Gryffindor beds and the warm sunlight streaming in from the windows. Sometime during the early morning somebody had drawn them back (a house elf perhaps?) to let the sunlight filter in. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day outside, and when Lily peered out the window, she saw the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor teams on the Quidditch pitch. They appeared to be deep into conversation—an argument.  
There was one problem amongst these normal morning happenings: the blackness was impending, ready to snatch Lily away; she could feel it, and in a way she was secretly glad. She didn't like spending time in a time where there was a second Lily and so very near her own present time at that! It would be more manageable if she was doing something more exciting or exotic in the past or future........  
Lily mentally slapped herself. What was she thinking?! Lily ought to be focusing on how to get Professor Flitwick to take her out of the Pensieve, but the more she thought, the more the blackness enveloped her and she got nowhere with her thinking. Time was too unpredictable. Lily was becoming more transparent and ghost-like by the second. At the very last moment, when she was about to disappear, a girl walked into the dorm, saw her, and let out a small shriek.  
Lily didn't know what she did next because by then, she was gone.  
  
January 15th, 1995 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft Gryffindor Common Room  
  
Harry Potter was nervous. He kept thinking about the escaped convict, Sirius Black. Why had he wanted him? Why did he destroy and maul the Fat Lady so?  
Ron was sprawled onto a chair in the common room near the fire. He was snoring loudly and his tongue was hanging out, a fleck of drool occasionally escaping from his mouth. Harry rolled his eyes and then rubbed them sleepily. Snape had assigned a particularly nasty essay on the properties of moonsbane. He wondered why Snape would assign such an essay, because the only potion it was included in was a certain potion that enabled a werewolf to hold onto his or her own mind while in wolf form. It was a relatively new invention, and ordinarily it would only have been slightly difficult to check out a book on it at the library, but just short of a hundred other students had tried to check out a book, so now Harry was completely lost, only having Hermione's notes to rely on.  
Ron hiccupped in his sleep.  
Harry rolled his eyes again and decided he would finish the essay tomorrow. He had Quidditch practice anyway........  
He was about to wake up Ron when an odd feeling of deja vu settled over him. Randomly, he wondered if his mother would be visiting him tonight. He had received a nasty shock when Lily first materialized in front of him, but after much explaining on Flitwick's and Dumbledore's behalf, he was now used to it.  
Again, an odd feeling settled over him, but this time he could now see a transparent figure forming in front of him. Lily!  
"Ron!" Harry hissed, shaking the red-headed boy wildly, "Wake up, Ron!"  
"Wha—What?" he muttered sleepily.  
"Lily's here."  
Ron sat up, looking around wildly, "Where? Where is she?"  
"There," Harry pointed to where she was materializing.  
  
Lily Evans was uncomfortably hot, and as she grew more solid, she could see that was because she was standing so near a fire in the Gryffindor common room. When in time was she? Nothing much seemed to be different, only that the common room seemed to be extraordinarily messy—much more messier than it was in her Hogwarts years—and there were less Muggle artifacts based on the hippie movement lying around. There were two boys standing in front of her, both of whom seemed oddly familiar. The red hair of the tall, gangly one immediately alerted her. He resembled the charismatic middle-aged man she had seen through the foggy windows on that rainy day in now what she knew was apparently in the far future. The other boy was even more so familiar and not because he resembled the dark-haired man at the same bar.  
"James?" Her voice was misty and echoing again.  
The boy shook his head, "No. My name's Harry."  
"You don't seem that surprised."  
"We're used to this," the redheaded boy offered, his voice only shaking slightly.  
"You are?" Lily was confused; she had never met these boys before.  
"She looks really young," Harry whispered, and the redheaded boy nodded in agreement.  
Lily was now solid and very tired. She sat down in the nearest chair. To her disgust, there seemed to be some clear, wet, sticky stuff on the floor near the chair. It looked like........drool? The redheaded boy noticed her expression and stammered quickly:  
"Oh—um—that was from Neville. Hah, you know that boy—always drooling........" but with an elbow jab from Harry, the boy stopped his blathering.  
"Oh, um okay. What's your name?" Lily leaned towards the redheaded boy curiously. He was awfully cute looking. Harry, she wasn't so sure. He looked too much like James to be appealing to her and his eyes—his eyes were very eerie and unsettling. It gave her an overwhelming feeling of deja vu, and she realized it was because they were so like her almond-shaped eyes, only rounder and larger, but not obscenely so.  
The boy frowned, "You don't know our names?"  
"She looks pretty young. This might have been the first time she met us."  
"The first time she's meeting us," the redhead corrected.  
"Whatever."  
"I'm right here," Lily reminded them.  
"Right. Sorry about that," the redhead blushed furiously and Harry rolled his eyes. Lily got the feeling that it wasn't the first time that night Harry had rolled his eyes at his friend.  
"Ron Weasley. Pleasure to meet you—again."  
"Ron, man, do you think you could stop that?"  
"Stop what?"  
"That! Dropping hints."  
"Oh. Right, sorry about that mate."  
Harry couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. He seemed thoroughly transfixed by her, his almost-identical green eyes glazed over. Lily hoped he wasn't developing a crush on her.  
"I—uh—so you know about me?"  
"Oh yeah," Ron answered for Harry, "Yeah, the whole school's known about you for well over a century I 'pose."  
"A century?!" Lily stood straight up.  
"Well, sure," Harry nodded, "You're like one of the school ghosts. Dumbledore's said you've shown up outside the school, but still, you know, everyone feels like they know you. Tell me, what was Dumbledore like when he was younger?"  
"Yeah, I get the feeling that you might have been more........ah, intimate with him than you let on," Ron added, waggling his eyebrows mischievously.  
Harry punched him in the shoulder, frowning.  
"What?" Lily was shocked, "No! How could you say that?"  
"Ah well, you have time," Ron shrugged, "I mean, what are you? Eleven?"  
"Almost thirteen," Lily corrected indignantly.  
"Oh. Well. You have a long way to go, that's all I can say," Ron shrugged again. His eyes glanced over at the spot where the puddle of drool was.  
Again, Harry punched him in the shoulder.  
"You must be pretty tired."  
"No—  
"Yeah you've always told us the ripping effect takes a lot out of you," Ron added.  
"You can go up to your usual dorm—  
"She doesn't know where it is; she's too young—  
"Stop!" Lily roared.  
The two boys looked at her blankly.  
"What?" Harry said plaintively, in a voice that clearly indicated he wanted her approval and—affection?  
"I'm not tired."  
They looked blank again.  
"I just got up."  
"But it's nearly eleven—  
"Where I come from, it was morning and I had just woken up."  
"Oh, right," Harry nodded. "Right, time is so confusing."  
Ron let out what could have passed as a grunt of agreement.  
They stood awkwardly for a while before Harry announced he was going up to bed. To Lily's surprise he actually walked over and gave her a half sort of hug and said 'Good night, Lily'. Then he left.  
Lily was now convinced he was in love with her. She kind of felt icky because while she thought Harry was okay so far, she really didn't feel any chemistry between them. Ron however, was another story. He was now drinking a flask of pumpkin juice, which was strange because food and drink wasn't allowed in the common room except during celebrations, but then again, things could've changed.  
"Hey, Ron?"  
"Yeah?" he wiped his mouth.  
"What's the date?"  
"Oh, yeah. We forgot to tell you. It's January 15th, 1995."  
Lily felt dizzy. She was twenty-three years into the future! Was she married? Did she have kids? What were their names? A thousand questions raced through her mind.  
"Do you know me?"  
"Wha—what?" Ron was befuddled, his flask held in mid-air.  
"Me! Lily No 2. The grown-up Lily."  
For some reason Ron went pale, even his freckles, and he set down the flask abruptly.  
"Ah—um—not really........"  
Lily got mad, "What? You said everybody knows me here! I'm like a 'Hogwarts ghost' or something! How is that nobody took the time to find out about my real self, the self that's living out her life in this time?"  
Ron's paleness now turned into a deep red color, and then puce until he uncannily resembled a rather large beet on top of a human body.  
"Ah—  
His voice made a gurgling sound and he got choked up.  
"Never mind," Lily snapped, patience lost. She didn't think he was so cute. Alright, he was cute, but personality-wise, she now knew she could do better........like Frank Longbottom........  
"I think Harry has the hots for me," Lily announced.  
Ron immediately choked on his pumpkin juice that he had just deemed safe to drink again. The juice exploded from his lips, spraying the walls, and the remaining juice in his mouth dribbled down his chin as he was shaking with hysterical laughter.  
"What? I mean did you see the way he was acting? I'm not trying to be conceited, but I don't really feel that way about him. Ron stop laugh—  
But it was too late. Ron was stumbling his way up the stairs, breaking out into fits of hysterical laughter, taking a few more steps, and then breaking out into hysterical laughter all over again. At the top of the stairs, Lily could make out the faint sound of a dozen boys cursing Ron for waking them up with his laughter.  
"AHAHAHA!" he still roared from up the stairs.  
Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes. Teenagers in 1995 were much weirder than they were in 1972.  
  
Lily couldn't bring herself to fall asleep; she had after all, just woken up. So she decided to sneak out of the common room and spend some time walking around the grounds—and maybe she could even walk to Hogsmeade. There would be enough time to do that before she felt drowsy enough to sleep, but it was a good deal many miles away. Maybe she would save that for when she had a broomstick. While walking in the moonlight, her thoughts flickered back to Professor Flitwick. She realized it would be much easier for him to bring her back after a long time of her shifting from one time to another because then the stays would be more prolonged, giving him time to locate her and charm her out of the Pensieve.  
A rustling noise in the nearby trees of the Forbidden Forest caught Lily's attention. For the first time during the ripping effects, she was truly terrified; as a second year, she had no exposure to the Forbidden Forest or the creatures that resided there. It was as mysterious, as unknown to her as wizards and witches were to Muggles.  
She let out a sigh of relief when a large, black dog emerged from the forest. It looked unhealthy and deprived. Being a dog-lover by nature, Lily checked for the signs of rabies and then encouraged it to come to her. However, the dog did a peculiar thing—a very human action. Its eyes widened once it got a clear sight of her in the moonlight, it made a choking noise in its throat, and it stood very still.  
Lily persisted, "Here doggie, come here doggie. I won't hurt you baby; come here. I'll get you some food—  
The dog lunged at her, and Lily stumbled backwards, but it didn't harm her. It was panting, drooling from the very mention of food. Lily wondered if it was a Demiguise; the dog seemed to understand every word she said.  
"Can you understand what I say?"  
The dog just stared at her long and hard. Finally, it seemed to make a decision and dropped its head. Then Lily received perhaps one of the nastiest shocks of her life:  
The dog transformed gracefully from beast to man. Lily had never heard of an Animagus in her life; she was still in her second year, and McGonagall had not yet taken to demonstrating her abilities in class.  
The man stood straight and tall; he was tall, about six feet and two or three inches. Other than that, he was not an attractive man. His skin was waxy, yellow, and sallow looking. His eyes were sunken, but not deeply so, his hair reached his mid-back and hung in matted clumps, but there were almost no lines or wrinkles in his face; it suggested the appearance of someone who spent a great deal many years indoors with no lighting. Lily felt the all too familiar feeling of deja vu from the familiar looks of the man. She also noted that although the man was presently not that attractive, he had the reminiscent of a particularly good-looking man who had, under the influence of a bad environment, declined in appearance.  
"Lily," he declared simply.  
Trembling, she reached for her wand.  
"Don't," the man reached for her, but Lily knocked his hand away. Annoyed, the man grabbed her arm holding the wand.  
"Stop that, and just listen. How old are you?"  
Why did everyone ask that? Because they knew of the mysterious ghost Lily, she reminded herself.  
"Twelve, almost thirteen."  
"So you know nothing?"  
She huffed indignantly, "I'm getting there. I've only made a few trips into the future."  
"The future as in after the 1970's?"  
"Yes. Let go."  
To her surprise, the man did let go.  
"I'm an innocent man who was imprisoned in Azkaban twelve years ago."  
Lily thought that was a strange way to introduce yourself, but still she couldn't help feeling closer to the man than she felt to Ron or Harry.  
"Oh. When did you get released?"  
His eyes looked up to meet hers.  
"I wasn't pardoned. You're looking at the only man to escape from Azkaban. You know, you really shouldn't be wandering around in this time. There are dementors out here."  
"What?" Lily was shocked, "Dementors? In Hogwarts?"  
"I'm guessing it's on that blathering fool who calls himself Minister's orders. I know Dumbledore wouldn't be happy with it."  
"If you're really innocent, why would they put you in prison."  
"I was framed, and I didn't have a trial. And I was also stupid enough to have Peter Pettigrew as my so-called friend. Under those circumstances, a man is likely to get thrown into Azkaban and remain there for life."  
Lily's eyes widened at the familiar name, Peter Pettigrew.  
"You know Peter Pettigrew?"  
The man looked surprised.  
"And here I thought you were clever. By Merlin, girl don't you recognize me?"  
Lily shook her head 'no, she did not recognize him'.  
"Understandable. Twelve years in Azkaban will wring some change in one's appearance."  
"So—who are you?" Lily asked. But then she didn't need him to reply: she saw.  
Those dark eyes, the long, black hair, the handsome face hidden under the malnutrition.  
She gasped.  
"Sirius Black?"  
The man nodded.  
"What—what in God's name happened to you?"  
"I've told you."  
"What does Peter have anything to do with it?"  
Sirius hesitated.  
"It's........it's a very complicated thing Lily. I'm worried about telling you because it involves you and—well, it involves you too, and I want to talk to Dumbledore. It's very important I talk to him—and that I get my revenge........that I kill Peter Pettigrew."  
  
A/N: ok i promise i'll reveal my brilliant idea .........eventually. hang in there! review please........and keep flaming as usual and i'll listen to u and im open to any suggestions u have. ok cool, now press the go review button there and we'll get along great. :-) 


	5. Snape Doesn't Know How to React

A/N: i'm going to be on vacation from july 30-august 5, but i promise i'll have a chapter up by aug 10! keep reading please.........i'll make your night a night not to forget if you do! wink wink ........no, not that way, u sick, sick person! ok i'll stop my ranting now...........again, u know the drill..........R/R! Flames! yay!  
  
January 17th, 1995 Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft The Great Hall  
  
"Lily?" Hermione waved her hand in front of Lily's face.  
Lily snapped out of her stupor.  
"Lily? What's wrong with Neville?" Hermione stopped waving, and she now had an expression of genuine concern on her face.  
Harry and Ron were at the library studying and Hermione was enjoying breakfast with Lily for once. She had just been about to dig in her breakfast when she heard someone shout at the boy Neville she pitied so. His magical skills were really abysmal.  
But........the sausage was just about to reach her mouth when she heard Fred Weasley, Ron Weasley's older brother, walk by Neville, slapping him on the back.  
"Hey Longbottom, nice job in Potions. We heard about how you gave the old bat Snape warts on his nose when that potion exploded. Keep up the good work, man," and then he winked both at Neville and then at Lily who was staring at him with her mouth hanging open. It was then when Hermione started to wave for Lily's attention.  
"Lily? What's wrong with Neville?"  
Lily had received a double shock that morning. She was too depressed after her talk with Sirius the other night about how she would be wandering through time so long that she would actually age and grow older, almost to adulthood before people had stopped seeing her time ghost about. The morning after one full day in 1995 after much persistent encouraging from Hermione, she felt like she was well enough to eat breakfast. Not a lot of people were shocked, and a few even said, 'Hey, what's up Lily?'  
The double shock were the two names: Longbottom and Snape.  
Frank Longbottom and Severus Snape? She hadn't given them a thought during her time in the future. What happened to them?  
"Lily?"  
Hermione again! Lily leaned forward where Neville was staring miserably at his Remembrall and eggs.  
"You're Neville Longbottom?" she breathed in awe.  
Neville's head shot up abruptly.  
"You're Har—  
"This is Lily Evans, Neville," Hermione interrupted. Then she shot him a stony look, and apparently Neville understood. Lily was irritated now; they were keeping something from her.  
"Um, hi. Lily Evans?"  
"Yeah. Was your father Frank Longbottom?"  
The boy looked perked up and he nodded eagerly, "Yes. Did you know him?"  
Lily thought it strange that a boy would ask her a question like that so eagerly. Unless his father wasn't around much........  
"Yeah, he was in my year. He's a really talented wizard; I just worked with him in Charms about two days ago."  
Neville went pale, and he looked choked up like he was about to cry. Lily felt a sickening feel inside her; she now knew for sure something had happened to Frank Longbottom.  
"Is he........dead?"  
"Um, you know we really shouldn't be talking abou—  
But Neville shook his head furiously, interrupting Hermione:  
"He's not dead. You don't know abou—  
"Neville!" Hermione shot him another stony look.  
Lily felt curious. She was still getting butterflies in her stomach now that they were talking about Frank Longbottom. He was so........cute.  
"Um," Lily blushed, "Was I—I mean, was I—who was his wife? Your mother?"  
Neville looked surprised and Hermione started coughing not so discreetly.  
"Do you have feelings for Frank Longbottom?" Hermione asked her bluntly. A few people turned around and looked at them queerly.  
"Um," Lily's face and ears grew hot with embarrassment. Behind her, a boy with pale blond hair and blue eyes were laughing with a crowd of Slytherins. He bore an uncanny resemblance to an older boy who was in the seventh year when Lily performed the Avelford Charm. Lucius Malfoy was it? She glared balefully at the boy, but he just smirked at her.  
Neville was now very flustered.  
"No—um, no you're not my—  
He made a weird sound that sounded like a cross between a whimper and short exhale.  
"—my mother," he finished.  
"Oh." Lily was now sure her face was scarlet.  
"Did you know my mother?" Neville asked her after a moment's awkward silence.  
"I don't know........what was her name?" Lily asked, poking at her English muffin.  
"Alice."  
Lily froze.  
"Alice Whitney? My best friend Alice Whitney?"  
"She was your best friend?" Neville's face was excited.  
"Alice Whitney is Alice Longbottom?"  
He nodded eagerly.  
"What happened to—  
"Come on Lily, let's go," Hermione said abruptly, standing up and pulling Lily away before she could finish.  
Later they were walking down the corridor, Lily fuming, and Hermione glancing around her worriedly.  
"What is wrong with you?" she finally declared after ranting for a good five minutes.  
Hermione looked as if she were on the verge of tears.  
"Lily! Don't you understand? You can't go around asking these questions! You might change history and the future, and the consequences could be disastrous!"  
"How so?" Lily sniffed. A stupid question she knew.  
"Lily!" Hermione shrieked again, "You have feelings for Frank Longbottom! What if you did something to sabotage it so that Alice and Frank never got together? Look at Neville! You like Neville don't you?"  
Lily was taken aback, "Of course! He's a really sweet boy—  
"He is isn't he?! If you did something, do you realize he would never be born? You didn't even think about that! Lily," she clutched Lily's wrist, "Lily, you can't go around asking questions when you're in the future. And you shouldn't tell people in the past about their future. It could mess up everything."  
Lily was silent. She saw Hermione's point now, and she felt guilty. Before she could apologize though, a sinister looking professor swooped upon them.  
"Shouting in the corridors are we Ms. Granger? My, my, that's ten points from Gryffindor. And as for you—  
He stopped when he saw Lily. His expression was unreadable.  
"Well we have Lily Evans here. Pleasure to see you again," he sneered, but then his eyes looked confused and worried. It was as if he didn't know how to react, didn't know if he liked her or he should be mean to her. Lily was confused, but she would soon find out about all of this when she traveled to a certain sunny spring day after O.W.L. testing in her fifth year.  
"Get moving," he finally snapped.  
He turned around, his robes swirling. Lily didn't need help recognizing him. Severus Snape as a teenager was not a heartthrob, but he had a look to him that was strangely erotic and appealing. Severus Snape as an adult, the professor she just saw, fit the same description with an exception of his being thirty-six years old.  
"Hmm," Lily huffed, "Good to see some people haven't changed."  
Hermione clenched her teeth, but said nothing.  
Then Lily felt it. It caught her completely off guard since she was growing so accustomed to 1995. The blackness settled into her, pulling her away, making her body become transparent.  
"I'm—I'm leaving now Hermione."  
"Oh, no! Harry would've wanted to say good bye!" she cried.  
Harry again! That boy was really obsessed with her........ 


	6. Sleeping w the Enemy'or the Headmaster

A/N: this is an important note: i decided to speed up Lily's aging because: no. 1 people generally get upset when you have a twelve year old engaging in sexual activities but they're fine with it when she's fifteen no. 2 it just makes things more interesting, and no. 3 Snape is lonely.........i think he needs someone wink wink yes i'm a sad, sad person but R/R and flames are gladly accepted!  
  
The blackness was excruciating. All the air was sucked out of Lily and she could feel a shooting pain; it was horrible. Her spine, legs, and arms shot up and stretched out, making horrible cracking sounds. Her head ballooned larger and larger, giving her a migraine worse than someone being pressed during the Salem Witch Trials. Her baby fat made her nauseous as it made a 'schllluurping' sound as it was moved up and deposited in her chest, hips, and rear. Her hair grew and grew as it would if she'd gone three years without cutting it and her finger and toenails grew into claws. She moaned.  
She could feel the blackness eating away at her, bombarding free radicals and hormones into her bloodstream. She felt herself growing older. Her face was changing to more adult-like features.  
And then........  
  
March 30th, 1868 The Leaky Cauldron  
  
Lily was in a tub of scalding hot water. There was a flame under it, a horrible smell coming from what suspiciously looked like lye floating around wads of dirty laundry. She screamed in pain and quickly climbed out of the tub, looking for clean water. The lye was eating away at her skin, making it red and raw.  
There! A pump dripping with water. She pumped it all over her, but her claws kept bending uncomfortably; her nails and toenails were in danger of being ripped clean from the fingers and toes. Once she rinsed her body and hair off, she located a kitchen knife and sliced off as much as nail as she could without hurting herself.  
Another problem: she was naked as a jaybird. And she was feeling strangely drowsy. It was like she was drugged. The only time she remembered feeling like this was the first time she experienced the ripping effect and went back all the way to 1854. If she felt like this, it meant she had gone far back into time again. The kitchen looked old-fashioned too, but there were the usual magical objects floating and doing activities on their own.  
Her headache was making things worse. She felt so dizzy........  
Lily found a clean sheet for a bed; it was hanging dry on a clothesline. She pushed the kitchen door open and to her pleasure, the corridors were virtually abandoned. It must be a slow day, she thought.  
Maybe one of the rooms they rented out were empty; she could rest there........  
She pushed a door open; it was dark. That was good. She locked the door behind her, let the sheet fall from her, and walked toward the bed. She was fading out, had no perception of reality.  
She didn't notice the man's hands taking her closer to him, embracing him in the bed. She didn't notice it when it ran down her naked form, caressing her gently. He kissed her on the lips and she did what came natural: she kissed him back. Her newly grown body seemed to have a mind of its own, knew what to do. The man felt young to her hands, but he wasn't a boy. He was definitely a fully grown, adult male. She shivered as his long fingers stroked her, and he heaved when her own hands invited him to do what he wished. They made love, both not fully aware or conscious what they were doing, and that was okay, because it was good.  
  
March 1st, 1868 was Albus Dumbledore's twenty-fifth birthday. His friends were sickened of his wise, knowing ways and his great maturity. They were tired of him bearing the responsibility of his great powers and having it show through. They were appalled that Albus Dumbledore had not gotten laid yet.  
"You're twenty-five years old, and you haven't been with anyone?" his best friend had repeated, in obvious shock and appall.  
"No," he shook his head, "I confess I've never really found a woman I've felt close enough to."  
"Screw that. We're taking you out tonight and you're going to get stone drunk. Then we'll send somebody up for you."  
"No—  
But his friend hadn't listened to Albus's protests. Grindenwald did not stand for that kind of thing. He was determined to have Albus Dumbledore experience........well, experience.  
He held true to his word. That night Albus Dumbledore, Gridenwald, and a group of colleagues went to the Hog's Head where they were having a party, got drunk with fire whiskey, and Albus was about to pass out until they cut off his drinks. They levitated him to the Leaky Cauldron and told him to stay there and to expect 'somebody'.  
To his colleagues' dismay, they had no idea how to get 'somebody'. There were, as it seemed, no witches with strong inhibitions. They gave up and figured that Albus would be so drunk anyway he wouldn't remember anything about his birthday or any promises they had made.  
But as it turned out, Albus Dumbledore did get a visitor. She was a fifteen-year-old girl with deep, red hair who was trapped in the clutches of an Avelford Charm gone wrong.  
  
Lily opened her eyes, instantly realizing she was naked and had her arms wrapped around a strange man. The blackness was already settling into her, and she was disappearing.  
No! She wanted to know who this man was.  
Auburn hair, blue eyes........and she remembered those long fingers. Oh Merlin. She couldn't see his face clearly, only his piercing, blue eyes. Then she disappeared.  
  
May 9th, 1931 Kings Cross Station Platform 9 and ¾  
  
Lily was clutching her robes in her hand, and before she bothered to take in her surroundings, she eagerly pulled them around her. Gratefully, she patted her wand where it still was in the inner pockets of the robes. She was in a very, very small alley of some sort, so cramped that she had to turn sideways and walk from side to side in order to escape.  
Once Lily was out of the alley, she instantly recognized where she was, partly because the old Hogwarts Express train was now in front of her, steaming and chiming. It wasn't so old anymore; in fact it looked pretty new.  
The Muggle born students were wearing drab outfits and newsboy caps, which immediately brought the decade of the thirties to her mind. It would be the Muggles' Great Depression now, and it would affect the Muggle born wizards and witches. However the purebloods looked unaffected. That was no surprise since the wizarding economy was totally independent of the Muggle economy.  
She tried to look natural although she didn't have any luggage with her, which looked unusual.  
"Excuse me?"  
Lily looked down and saw a young girl, probably a first year, looking up at her. She had black hair and pretty blue eyes. Her skin was pale, but clear.  
Lily smiled at the girl's serious expression and natural beauty.  
"What is it?" she said kindly.  
"Are you a prefect?"  
"No."  
"Oh. Well do you know where I'm supposed to go?" The girl looked at the train anxiously.  
"If you want, you can come and sit with me. I'll show you where to put everything."  
The girl broke out in a grin, "Okay."  
Lily helped the raven-haired girl get her luggage onto the train. It was difficult, and it didn't help she had a black-haired cat who kept hissing every time its cage was knocked about. Once they were settled into a compartment with another first year boy with bright red hair who reminded her of Ron, she asked the girl her name.  
"Oh, I'm Minnie. What house are you in?" the girl asked.  
Lily was only wearing plain black robes, so there was no way of telling.  
"I'm in Gryffindor," she replied.  
"Oh. I hope I'm in Ravenclaw. No offense intended," she added quickly.  
The boy grinned at her, "Not me. Gryffindor's what I'm shooting for."  
"Are your parents non-magic?" Minnie gestured towards his shabby robes.  
"Oh, no. My family's pureblooded and poor. What about you?"  
Minnie looked down at her small gray dress, riddled with holes.  
"Non-magic parents," she said.  
"Okay." The boy shrugged and looked out the window.  
Lily approved of the boy. He didn't care about lineage, which was more than she could say for some other wizards and witches.  
"What's your name?" Minnie asked Lily.  
"Lily Evans," she responded automatically. She didn't think of changing it.  
"Oh, that's a nice name."  
Lily smiled, "Thank you."  
The boy turned to her.  
"Evans? I haven't heard of that name."  
"I'm Muggle born."  
"I know, I know," the boy dismissed it, "But I live in London, and my parents pretty much know everybody and I haven't heard of a family with Evans as their surname."  
"It's a big world out there."  
The boy shrugged.  
"So," Minnie shot him a look that clearly said she wasn't getting along with him, "What is your name?"  
"Bill."  
"What's your full name?" Minnie persisted.  
"William Weasley."  
Lily jerked in surprise, whipping her head around. He did have the red hair that seemed to be a Weasley trait and he had the same freckles and tall build Ron had. They didn't look too alike though; their faces were completely different.  
"What's wrong?" Bill asked Lily.  
"She's terrified by the sight of you," Minnie offered.  
To Lily's surprise, Bill didn't retort with sharpness, but rather, he laughed.  
Minnie smiled, and Lily felt the iciness between them being melted.  
"So what about you, Minnie Mouse dear?"  
"Don't call me Minnie Mouse." Minnie wrinkled her nose.  
"Fine then. I'll call you by your first name."  
"I don't like my first name."  
"Well make up your mind. I can't go around saying 'Hey, you!' all the time."  
Minnie and Lily grinned.  
"All right. I'm Minerva. My mom's name is Norna, but she wants me to have my dad's name McGonagall instead."  
Lily couldn't take it anymore. From now on, she was not going to say a word to ANYBODY she met while jumping through time. At the rate she was getting so many shocks, she'd have a heart attack by forty.  
Minerva McGonagall? That girl in front of her was McGonagall? Granted, the McGonagall she knew in 1972 was fifty-two years old, but it was a shock seeing the professor with no stern expression, lines, or gray in her raven-colored hair.  
She stood up and left the compartment to find an empty one. Behind her, Minnie called after her.  
"Where are you going?"  
"Don't worry, I'll be back," she called behind her.  
She ignored everyone while searching for a compartment. She knew she was being irrational; Minerva McGonagall was probably the only person Lily knew who would be a student at this time, but she was sick of meeting people she shouldn't meet until she was born at the very least!  
While sitting in her compartment, she thought about last night.  
What had happened? Why had her body had suddenly transformed into a fifteen-year-old's body at the very least? Would it keep aging? She hoped not.  
Lily did find a bright side to this. Everyone she had met in the future had pretty much said that Lily would be nearing adulthood when she disappeared (hopefully that meant she was rescued), and if her aging process was sped up, that meant her rescue date was nearer. Still, she was apprehensive about losing so many years of her life. It wasn't fair.  
  
Minerva McGonagall was not sorted into Ravenclaw but into Gryffindor along with Bill Weasley. It was as expected because Lily remembered Ron muttering something about McGonagall being the Head of the Gryffindor House when she was in 1995.  
People shot her strange looks because she was a stranger. Albus Dumbledore was not here, and neither was his grandfather. Albus Dumbledore—that was whom the man looked like. Lily felt a sick feeling in her. How could he be Albus? The old man with forever twinkling eyes? It didn't seem possible, but Lily knew it was. She was surprised that the old man could be so........pleasurable. But that was when he was much younger, she immediately thought, grossed out again.  
Her hand went to her stomach. She hoped she hadn't gotten herself in trouble.  
That night, she slept near the hut that would become Hagrid's in the future. Nothing from the Forbidden Forest bothered her and she had conjured up a comfy pillow and sleeping bag. Hopefully, she would be taken away into time during the night.........  
Blackness ensued.  
  
A/N: ok first off, i'd like to apologize to anyone who was kind of—u know, grossed out about the whole albus dumbledore thing, but in my defense he was twenty-five! he was a hot young man ok lol but that's the last of romance where he's concerned. everything's about james and snape now .......whoops did i just give that away? silly me. anyways R/R and flame me now! burn me to a char! ok i'll stop. one wonders how i get so out of control and off topic during these notes...;.........hmm 


	7. The Slimy and Sexy Severus

Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft 

**October 31st, 1992**

**Nearly Headless Nick's 500th Deathday Anniversary Party**

**Hogwarts' Dungeons**

**Lily now has been trapped for two months**

Lily's own green eyes stared at her behind round glasses. A mop of messy, black hair covered the boy's head, and a lightning bolt-shaped scar adorned his middle forehead. His face was deathly pale, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Harry?" Lily moaned.

The boy didn't say anything. He just backed up against the wall, and Lily was suddenly aware of the boy's—and Ron Weasley's—youth. They were much younger-looking than when she encountered their thirteen-year-old selves from 1995. The room was chock-full of ghosts, but they only merely glimpsed at her and then returned to their activities.

"Hello there, Lily!" Nearly Headless Nick waved at her, smiling, "How are you?"

"Um. Good."

"Excellent!" He floated over to Lily, where she was now becoming solid. "You were lucky enough to land right in the middle of my Deathday party. It's the 500th anniversary."

She knew Nick had died on Halloween in 1492, so she deduced that it must be October 31st, 1992. Impressive enough—twenty years into her future—but not nearly as impressive as it would have been to her two months ago.

Upon seeing Harry and Ron Weasley's white expressions, Nick suddenly realized the situation. He waited till Lily was standing upright once more.

"Now there boys," he said tentatively, uncertain as what to say, "Dumbledore explained to you about the Hogwarts' apparition? Lily Evans the Second?"

"I'm the first!" Lily shouted abruptly, which did nothing for the poor two boys' nerves. "The Lily you know in this future is the SECOND one! She was a copy of me! She only existed when the Avelford Charm went wrong!"

"Okay—well—um—

Poor Nick was completely thrown off. He hadn't meant to stir up a fight.

"I mean—yeah—I knew this was going to happen sometime," Ron finally spoke, his words filled with awe, "But when it does........it's so hard to believe." He poked her into the arm. She shoved him away lightly.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself," Lily snapped.

"Jeez man, I didn't think she would be so mean; I know she's your mu—

"Now there," Nick interrupted before Ron could finish, "Let's not say anything that would upset Lily.....hmm? Yes, no? Alright, you two. The party's about over anyway so you can get up to the Great Hall and join the feast if it's still going."

Harry still hadn't moved or said a word. Lily softened.

"Hi Harry," she smiled.

"You've met him?" Ron was confused.

"Sure. I've been jumping around for almost two months. I've chatted with both of your future selves on one occasion or another."

"You have?" Harry had finally spoken.

Lily smiled kindly, her short temper now gone.

"Sure. You guys are great; at least I know you'll be great when you're third years."

"We made it to third year? Cool," Ron grinned.

But Harry just nodded, his eyes transfixed on hers. Lily was getting the wilies. Even at eleven this boy STILL had a crush on her. Merlin.

"Um. So I'll see you around."

"Yeah sure," Ron nodded and led Harry upstairs to the Great Hall. Lily hung around the ghosts' party; she felt more at home there than amongst real people.

Gryffindor Common Dorms 

**November 3rd, 1992**

Lily had been in 1992 for three and a half days, and it was shaping up pretty well. Except when she attended the second year Defense Against the Dark Arts class, she got some stares because Lily was now biologically fifteen years old, but in her mind, she was still twelve. Although she had to admit, she was making a lot of stupid decisions and often experienced tough mood swings, and that kind of changed your mind, twelve or no.

She disliked Professor Quirrel immediately, and that wasn't just because she knew he was possessed by some dark wizard by the name of—well they didn't like it when she said his name, but it was Voldemort. Lily had overheard Hermione offhandedly mentioning Quirrel's possession in 1995 over dinner. She was talking about how Harry seemed to be having run-ins with Voldemort every year since he first came, and that she thought he should be more careful, but Harry wasn't really listening to her then. He and Ron were deep in discussion about how to hex some boy's—Draco was it?—books so that they would insult Snape whenever they heard his voice in Draco's voice. Lily hadn't stayed long enough to see if it would work. It seemed more of Fred and George's thing so she wasn't too confident it was a success.

So anyways, she didn't like Quirrel, but she still had to do the homework. An eleven-year-old Hermione was peering over her shoulder at the essay she was writing. Lily heard her sniff, but she didn't remark. Instead of getting annoyed with Hermione as one would normally have, she just smiled. She already knew Hermione pretty well from their one encounter so far in the future although Hermione couldn't say the same about her. Briefly, Lily wondered why she hadn't met Harry, Ron, and Hermione more often in the future.

"What's wrong with it?" Lily asked, finally tired of the constant sighing and sniffing behind her.

"Oh, it's just that monpies have a fetish for stinksap not maple sap. That's for **_moonpies_,**" Hermione corrected.

Lily was intrigued and she asked Hermione, not in a mean way, "How would you know this kind of stuff?"

"I read a lot." But Lily saw some happiness in Hermione. She seemed like she was sad all the time and this was a rare moment for her. Then it occurred to Lily:

"You're friends with Harry and Ron right?"

"What? With them? No," she sniffed again.

Interesting. Hermione's curiosity was piqued.

"Why? _Will_ I be friends with them? Have you been there?" her face was growing more excited.

"If by 'there' you mean future then sure, I've been in the future. It's a pretty deep place, very weighty."

"What do you mean by that?"

"In the past, it's light-feeling except when I go really far back like the nineteenth century, because everything's already history. I know what happened and I know what to expect. In the future, even if it's just a few years, everything's changed. It seems so heavy to me because I don't know what's what and everything. It's so........unreal."

"Interesting," Hermione nodded thoughtfully, "I've read that when some wizards time travel they often experience that same feeling. But you're not time traveling are you?"

"Avelford Charm mishap."

"Oh!" Hermione's eyes went wide. Lily was surprised; besides Dumbledore (she shivered in disgust), Hermione was the only one to know what an Avelford Charm was.

Lily was going to open her mouth, but then she was instantaneously transported to the blackness. She had disappeared again, and this time it didn't slowly settle over her. It was fast and harsh.

Mountains, Somewhere in France 

**November 17th, 1996**

**Lily now has been trapped for two months and one week**

The giants hadn't bothered Lily since she jinxed them all, but they watched her warily, occasionally grunting their disapproval. Lily knew from the heaviness in the air that she was in the future. Too bad the giants hadn't disappeared from the face of the earth by now.

It was terribly cold, but thankfully it hadn't snowed yet for the winter. Lily conjured fires often, but they never lasted; things didn't last when conjured from thin air. She had been in the future for only two days and she could already feel the blackness settling. It was slow—much slower than she'd ever experienced before. Lily wished it would hurry up now.

The skies were gray nearly all the time, with clouds rolling constantly. There was wind, which worsened the cold—and then there was that crashing sound. The sound had woken Lily up from her shivering sleep a few moments ago, and since then it had done nothing but grown louder and louder, terrifying the bejesus out of her. She was clutching her wand, trembling from both fear and the cold when she saw a joyfully familiar figure step out of the dense forests beyond the clearing she was sitting in the middle of.

"Hagrid!" she shrieked.

The man looked completely and utterly shocked.

"Lily? That you? Didn' expect you so far out ere'."

"Oh Hagrid, it's been terrible. It's so cold—

Hagrid immediately covered Lily with his traveling cloak. It was then when Lily saw a very, very large woman—about Hagrid's size—step from the forests. Hagrid saw what she was looking at and blushed.

"Oh, erm—Lily this ere' is Madame Maxime."

"How do you do," she nodded unsmiling, "I've heard a great deal about you in the Hogwarts School," she continued in a heavy French accent.

"I'm good, and it's nice to meet you." Lily was so happy to see a familiar face she wasn't even put off by Madame Maxime's snotty French attitude.

"So what are you two doing out here?"

Madame Maxime pulled herself up haughtily, "Now then, this is here is strictly secret Hogwarts busine—

"Aw, the girl'll be jumping off to who knows where in time anytime now anyway. Lily, we're trying to find the giants. Lord Voldemort—"Madame Maxime flinched, but Hagrid continued, "has risen to full power just this July. We need to find them so we can form an ally with them with Dumbledore."

Lily was completely thrown off. Over the weeks of her time traveling, she had picked up more and more about Voldemort's awesome but mostly terrifying power and now she fully realized how dangerous he was.

"It's November 15th, 1997 Lily. If tha' helps."

"November 17th," Madame Maxime corrected, smiling for the first time, at Hagrid.

"Oh. How's Ron and Hermione?"

"I haven't seen them since summer; it's been about four and a half months and for all I know they've suddenly sprouted a third eye," Hagrid shrugged, "I miss them, I really do, but for now, I's got to do this for Dumbledore. Great man he is."

"Yes," Lily agreed hastily, not wanting Hagrid to spout off in one of his monologues about what a great man Dumbledore was.

"You're dissolving," Madame Maxime stated bluntly as if this were an everyday occurance.

And so it was true. The blackness had once more taken a hold of Lily.

Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft 

**May 21st, 1976**

Lily slowly materialized, her eyes adjusting from the cloudy gloom of the French mountains of the future to the bright, sunny day of the—well it was the future here too, but the pressure had eased a great deal. Students were sprinkled over the rolling lawns of the campus and after a few minutes she recognized some of them. The girls and boys she knew from her year were all here, but they were considerably older. They were probably in their fifth or sixth years.

They didn't pay much attention to her, partly because they were all laughing in a large cluster around something. Lily recognized that egotistical boy, James Potter—

It hit her in a shock. Harry! While time traveling she didn't really keep track of the number of years or the generational gaps that had gone by so she had naturally assumed Harry was related to James but distantly. She was an idiot; they practically could pass for fraternal twins at the very least—that suggested more than a second cousin blood relationship. What if he was.......James's descendant?

She was roused from her thoughts by a boy's screaming voice and the charismatic laughter of James and Sirius (a pang hit her, out of sadness for Sirius's fate), and the high-pitched giggling of Peter. Lily's temper rose and for a moment she longed for nothing more but to punch Peter Pettigrew's face and beat the living crap out of him, but—

Was that Snape dangling in the air?

She ran towards the crowd.

"Stop! What are you doing?"

"Oh, hello Evans," James said nonchalantly, waving his wand up and down. He apparently thought she was Lily number 2, the fifth year Evans that was living out HER life.

"Stop that!" She raised her wand.

A scuffle ensued, ending up with Snape calling her a mudblood.

A collective gasp went throughout the crowd and James grew furious (Lily wasn't as shocked since she'd heard it a great deal many times in the future from that horrid boy Draco Malfoy when he was trading insults with Hermione.).

"_DON'T CALL HER THAT!_" James roared.

Lily ran away. Behind her, she heard James say, "Now who wants to see Snivellus's underwear?"

Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft 

**May 22nd, 1976**

**The Library Backroom**

Severus Snape was furious. Yesterday had been horrible. He'd called Lily Evans the apparition a mudblood ruining his chances and the school had seen his underwear. Oh, he loathed James Potter. If it was the last thing he'd do, he'd get James Potter. One day, he promised himself, one day James Potter will get what he deserves. And Sirius too.

Severus had no chance with Lily Evans—the one he saw everyday, but he had some kind of mad passion for her. That red hair, her green eyes—undeniably Slytherin, but she was a Gryffindor. Her porcelain skin, sprinkled with freckles—

"Are you finding what you need?" The librarian.

"I would," he said coldly, "If I wasn't constantly hounded, my progress would be considerably less hindered."

The librarian glared at him but left him alone at his search for a recipe for the Polyjuice potion. His only hope with Lily Evans was with the one that traveled through time. She didn't know him well enough to be disgusted by him. He would get to her, and James Potter......he would be livid, Severus thought smugly. A copy of Lily was the same as Lily Evans and he wouldn't stand for anyone laying a hand on her.

"Severus?"

Speak of the devil. Severus turned around and met the startling green eyes of Lily Evans. It was the traveling one, no doubt. The Lily Evans he knew hated him.

"Evans."

"I don't appreciate being called a mudblood, Severus. I've heard it all too many times before in my experience, but that doesn't change the fact that it still hurts my feelings."

Severus was floored. She was completely, completely unlike the Lily Evans he knew. The picture of James Potter being jealous, angry, livid.....it floated from his mind and a new one took its place: Lily Evans.

He chose to ignore her. He didn't know what to say anyway. Lily watched as he resumed his search for a book.

"Professor—

They both froze.

"What did you call me?" he sneered at her after a moment's silence.

Lily's eye glanced downwards. She didn't answer.

"I understand you've been to the future."

"Yes."

Severus was no genius, but it didn't take long for the puzzle pieces to fall into place. He didn't question Lily any further though. No use questioning the inevitable.

"Severus—"she began, moving closer.

Much too close. Damn that floaty, seductive smell that hung around her. Damn the red hair, the green eyes. Damn her to hell.

"Get out. I have work."

Her eyes flashed, "Look—

He couldn't help it. He pinned her against the bookshelves by her shoulders. Her eyes flew open in shock.

"What are you doing?!"

He leaned in closer, smelling her delicate neck, her mass of red hair. Finally he moved backwards.

"Get out."

"No! Not until you tell me—

She was cut off again by Severus Snape.

"If you don't get out," he said slowly, "I have no choice but to express my inhibitions."

Lily looked completely puzzled and did the exact thing she shouldn't have done. She stepped close to him again. Dammit.

Her lips were full and she looked up at him from her clear green eyes.

"Tell me what's going on."

He bent his head down and kissed her, prying her lips open. His hands squeezed her shoulders tightly and he pressed himself against her. She made a startled gasp. They backed up against the shelves, wrapped in each other's arms.

The clock ticked softly as Lily Evans and Severus Snape at sixteen years old made love. When they were done, Lily lying breathless on the floor, and Severus already dressing, face flushed, Lily started giggling. Severus was nonplussed.

"What is it?"

"Haha," she grinned, "I just had an encounter with my future temporary professor."

Severus found it slightly amusing in a dark way too, but he didn't let it show.

"I thought as much," and he left her there, on the floor. Damn you, Severus, he thought, that was the best thing that ever happened to you and you just left her there.

He returned five minutes later, but she was gone. An emptiness, a sort of black feeling, hung where she once was.


	8. Weasley Wizarding Wheezes

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 

**February 9th, 1996**

**Gryffindor Common Room**

Again, Lily felt much, much too hot. She scrambled her way out of the flaming fireplace, slapping her robes as they caught fire. Since not much of her had been solid then, the flames only caught a small section on fire. Lily exhaled slowly, straightened her disheveled hair (she blushed at the thought as to why it was disheveled), and took in her surroundings.

Nothing. Nobody was there. Perfect. Lily walked to the window and what she saw both amazed and shocked her.

An enormous mass of people, the biggest she'd ever seen gathered at the Hogwarts grounds, were all cheering. A boy, who she immediately recognized as a taller, sturdier Harry, was beaming, but modestly so. Hermione and Ron were near him, both wary of each other as if recovering from a fight or dispute, but happy for their friend nevertheless.

A banner, magically enchanted, floated in the air: WELCOME TO THE TRIWIZARDS GUESTS OF HOGWARTS!

Lily was surprised; a Triwizard hadn't taken place in years at Hogwarts because of the danger. She wondered what year it was. Lily walked up to her private dorms in the girls' dorms, the one set aside for her, and rummaged through the trunk. The books were faded and slightly yellowed at the ends, and the posters a bit too fragile, but otherwise everything was okay. Lily then checked out to see if the sheets were clean. To her dismay, there weren't any sheets; the house elves probably didn't want to clean a set of sheets every day for somebody that hardly stayed more than once a year or less.

She was walking down the stairs, on her way to inform Dumbledore (another shiver) of her presence, when she bumped into Ron. His expression was masked and very cool as if he was suppressing some rage.

"Hello, Lily."

"Oh, hi Ron. What's the—

"February 9th, 1996. And we're having the Triwizard."

There was a moment's silence before it clicked in Lily's brain. He was jealous!

"Ah—um—is Harry competing?"

"Well, yes I'd say so," Ron replied snidely.

Lily didn't really want to talk to him when he was like this so she walked around him.

"Hey!"

"What?"

Ron looked shamefaced. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Then Lily remembered her nagging thought.

"Hey, Ron?"

"Yeah?" he plopped down into one of the chairs near the fireplace, rubbing his nose, red and chapped from the cold.

"Is Harry......I mean, is Harry—is he James's son?"

Ron abruptly stopped rubbing his nose and stared at Lily like she was an idiot.

"Is Harry James's son? Well Lily, their uncanny resemblance must be nothing but a coincidence huh? Of course he's James's son. He's Harry Potter," Ron added this last bit as an afterthought, dripping with sarcasm and a snide tone.

"A lot of people seem to know him," Lily remarked, peering out the window once more, "And I mean not just from winning the Triwizard cup; also, you say his name like everyone's supposed to know who he is."

Ron gaped at her.

"Well _Lily_—and I'm assuming you've been stuck in time for a while—I must say your investigational skills are utterly dismal. I mean, _really, really_ dismal too, not just oh, she needs some work, but oh, she's hopelessly, _hopelessly_ pathetic. I mean, how can you not be traipsing about here and there in your future and not hear of the name Harry Potter?"

Lily just stared at Ron. He had made a long speech by his standards.

"Okaaay........" Ron held up his hands, palms facing outwards, "I'm not supposed to tell you anything that you can't find out on your own."

"Fine," Lily folded her arms, "So how's he doing in the games?"

"Just dandy. But they're kind of dangerous. He may be all—well, he's just good at keeping himself out of the red, you know?" Ron proceeded from rubbing his nose to rubbing his hands near the fire.

"When's the next event?"

"Oh, sometime in July."

This immediately sent up warning flags in Lily's head. She knew something was supposed to happen this July, something big and probably not so good. She hated when this happened when she was jumping around time; it proved her investigational skills WERE really dismal. What was it that Hagrid had said later in 1996 in the French mountains? Then it hit her.

"Voldemort!"

Ron fell out of his chair, dangerously close to the fire.

"What—what the—LILY! YOU DON'T JUST SAY VOLDEMORT OUT OF THE BLUE AND SCARE THE BEJESUS OUT OF A BLOKE!" Then he clapped his hands over his mouth because he just realized he, too, had said 'Voldemort'.

"I remember what Hagrid said," Lily said excitedly, "I was stuck in some mountains in France sometime in winter later this year. Winter 1996," she repeated to herself, "and anyways, Hagrid said something about trying to find the giants so they could ally with Dumbledore against......Voldemort? He said Voldemort—

"Would you please stop saying his name?"

"He said Voldemort had came back sometime in July earlier in the year. So don't you see? Voldemort's supposed to come back in July!"

"You sure seem excited about this," Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no I'm excited I finally succeeded with my investigative skills."

"Point taken," Ron nodded, "But this isn't good. What if he—

The doors slammed open and a mass of people with loads of candy, food, and butterbeer all swarmed in, laughing and singing. Harry trailed behind with Hermione behind him.

"Hey, what's up Lily?"

"Yo!"

All kinds of voices chorused at her, but they didn't seem shocked to see her at all—as usual. Harry and Hermione walked over. For the first time, Harry didn't gape, stare, or act shy around her. Lily was relieved.

"Hey," he said, giving her a hug before sitting down with Ron in front of the fire. Well so much for Lily being relieved. Hermione smiled and said 'hi'.

"So where are you coming from?" Harry smiled at Lily.

"1976."

"How's Dad?" Harry asked.

Hermione shot Harry a look, but then Ron interrupted:

"Lily knows James is Harry's father." He emphasized each word carefully so that they knew that it was the only detail Lily knew. (A/N: like, oh, you know, who could Harry's mum be? hehe)

"I hope she figured it out on her own," Hermione snapped. Ron grew red with anger, but then Harry broke in before his friends started fighting again.

"Guys!"

"To answer your question, I just left him torturing poor Severus."

The room was very, very quiet.

"Yo! Yo, Lily! Did you just say '_poor Severus_'? Cause' see, Fred and I were testing these dung bombs out and our hearing's a little shot, so I just wanted to see if I got that right," George called from the party.

Lily's face grew hot, but she nodded.

Fred and George chortled, "Poor Severus! Our Lily's been getting around indeed. Indeed!" They bashed two mugs of butterbeer together in a toast, spraying everyone. The crowd laughed and then continued to party.

Harry was glaring at them. Dear Merlin, that boy really had it bad for her.

"Look, Harry. Don't be jealous."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron stared at her. A tiny smile crept on Ron's face, but then it grew bigger and bigger until he no longer could hold it in. He broke out in hysterical giggles.

"Heeheheeehee," he rolled around the floor, knocking ash out of the fireplace, "Haahahaha! Harry's jealous!"

Hermione scoffed while Ron continued to giggle hysterically, wiping tears from his eyes, "Oh, _really_. Ron, you, out of all people, should know what we have here is a huge misunderstanding."

"How is this a misunderstanding?" Lily raised her voice, "He keeps wanting to get my approval! He kept watching and staring at me! Harry, don't take offense, but it's really, really, PAINFULLY obvious that you have an enormous crush on me."

The silence in the common room was deafening. Lily was all too aware of everybody watching her in amazement. Then it happened:

Everyone—EVERYONE—started to laugh. Fred and George stumbled up to the dorms, using each other as support when their bouts of hysterical laughter became too much to handle for them. A boy started searching through his bags for something that strangely looked like a handheld video camera—like the ones they used in Hollywood.

"Um—Harry?" Hermione nudged Harry who was gaping at her in shock and amazement.

"Oh—um. Mu—Lily—you don't get it yet?"

"What's there not to get?" Lily said in a small voice.

The crowd was silent again and now some people were beginning to go up to their dormitories to give them some privacy. A few stayed behind to loot the party tables, but eventually they did run up the stairs to join their friends.

When pretty much everyone was gone, Harry stood up and faced Lily.

"Look at me. Look at my eyes, and then look behind those eyes, into my blood. What do you see there?"

"I......"

"Lily Evans, you see James Potter, but you see somebody else don't you? _Don't you_?"

Ron and Hermione were both biting their lips nervously, eyes darting back and forth from Harry and Lily.

Lily started getting dizzy. She was reeling backwards because now she was all too aware of how those green eyes staring back at her were really all too familiar. How could she have missed it? How?

"So you know?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"He's......you're my son?" Lily mumbled weakly.

"I sure as hell am. So maybe you understand why it's a little difficult for me to have my mum showing up all over the place at my time at school."

Lily nodded. Merlin, how could she have been so cold and indifferent towards him? How? How could she have preferred Ron's company over Harry's?

"Look," Harry looked depressed, "I'm going to go upstairs. I just swam for two hours in that stupid lake. See you later Mum."

He left. And he left with Ron and Hermione staring at Lily with worried expressions on their faces.

"Hey," Ron stood up, "Are you going to be all right?"

His hand was reaching for her shoulder.......

The Forbidden Forest 

**May 10th, 1999**

The air was sweltering and hot, but there were no mosquitoes due to the pummeling rain, which was now pouring down Lily's robes. It wasn't night, which Lily was thankful for, because she recognized her surroundings as the Forbidden Forest. Lily tugged at her robes to cover her head for some time, but that was awkward so she just let them drop since she was already soaking wet. Lily ran and ran, never stopping until she was well out of the boundaries of the Forbidden Forest. She was weak and she had no wish to encounter any nasty creatures this dark, gloomy afternoon. It was perfectly suited to her mood.

How could Harry be James AND her son? She hated James! Well, she didn't hate him, but to her, he seemed cocky and.......Lily was at a loss for feelings towards him. She really didn't know what to think now. Where she felt emotion was now a blank void.

As she stumbled up the slippery hills, the void grew warmer and soon only the thought of James encouraged her to keep going. Finally, she saw a warm glow from a hut—Hagrid's hut! She ran up the final slope and pounded on Hagrid's door.

Hagrid opened the door and his eyes widened at the sight of Lily.

"Lily! This is unexpected ere'...eh, well come on in. You're soaked to the bone."

Lily gratefully stepped in and was about to embrace the warmth of the fire when she saw—

Oh Merlin. This was the last thing she needed after recovering from the shock of finding out just who her son was.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all sitting at Hagrid's table. They had cups of tea, all of which were pushed away from them and into the summer, still not drunk, and they were all staring at Lily.

Finally it was Hermione who spoke.

"Lily. It's been a long time."

Lily blinked, the water dripping from her hair. Meanwhile, Hagrid tossed a blanket around her and was now pushing her into a chair near Hermione. She blinked again.

Hermione's long hair was slightly frizzy from the humid air, but it hung well below her shoulder blades in long, tumbling brown waves. Her brown eyes were larger and less shrewd-like, mostly because of the immense sadness that filled them. Her face was also greatly changed; her bone structure seemed more delicate and small like one who has grown a lot in a short time and in the process had stretched out so much that the body was now proportioned a lot smaller. (A/N: as in, she was kind of dumpy but okay-looking before, and now she's a willowy, small-framed almost-woman. yay for our Hermione!) Her skin was also paler.

"I—I wouldn't say so. I just found out I was Harry's mum."

Hagrid, Ron, Harry, and Hermione all grimaced.

"We haven't seen you since then. Except when Hagrid met you on the mountains about three years ago," Harry remarked, leaning back in his chair, studying Lily.

"It's 1999?"

"May 10th, 1999," Ron confirmed. His lean arms were folded across his chest.

"Oh Lord. You're about to graduate," Lily moaned, her hands pressed against her head.

"It's so unbelievable though," the small Hermione said breathily, turning her teacup around in a clockwise pattern.

Harry looked at her sideways, but shook his head slightly when Lily made an expression towards Hermione—one that was asking what had been happening in these past three years. He now had even longer hair more like the style was in Lily's time, the 1970's even though Ron's was short and wet looking. She was also pleased to note that he didn't look so much like James's identical twin now (but that's only because he's almost a man now, she reminded herself) with his stronger face and shorter nose. His eyebrows were heavier, and his body was also stronger. He didn't really look like an adult yet, but he didn't look much like a teenager anymore either.

Ron caught the gesture, but apparently he and Harry thought differently.

"Remember how Voldemort came to power that July?"

Lily was surprised. She had never heard Ron use Voldemort's name in such an offhand tone.

"Yes," she said softly, already knowing where this was going.

"Well," Ron's face was stony, "the second war began two years ago, at the end of our fifth year. We all fought against his death eaters then and Harry eventually confronted Voldemort......again. Ever since, it's been chaos. Hogwarts didn't feel so safe anymore.

We've suffered from......losses. It affected us all and it still does—especially Hermione."

The small looking woman shot Ron a look, but Hermione didn't say anything yet. When she did finally speak it was this:

"Lily?"

Lily snapped out of her trance. She had been taking in Ron's grown appearance. He looked more like an adult than Harry did, but he wasn't as strong. He was taller, and was very wiry and lean. His red hair was cut short as Lily previously noticed and his freckles seemed sparser since he grew so much.

"Yes, Hermione?" Lily said gently. Hermione at age eighteen seemed much more fragile.

"Professor Flitwick—he's dead now by the way—but before he died he wanted me to tell you this:"

She took a deep breath:

"He's been talking to his future self for some time now. Almost thirty years. And he found out how to get you back, but it's going to be difficult. You'll be jumping around a lot, and it'll be shorter, faster, and generally rougher. Then you're going to arrive at this destination—"Hermione removed a piece of paper and gave it Lily across the table, "and at that destination, Professor Flitwick will extract you and the whole charm will be reversed. Everyone except you will forget that the Avelford Charm mishap ever happened. No one will remember or be affected by your trips. That means Harry will never be meeting his mother during school in the reversed timeline and there will be no two Lily's walking around. Only you and you alone. And you and you alone will remember everything that has happened."

Hermione leaned in closer, her voice now down to a whisper:

"And Lily? I would _strongly_ recommend that you use the information you've acquired as little as possible. Don't try to change your fate or future. Leave it as it is or everything could be blown out of proportions: a catastrophe."

The hut was silent except for the whistling of the wind and the pounding of the rain. Hermione had turned out to be a very good speaker. She should be a judge or work for some kind of department in the minister or something, Lily thought. She saw Harry and Ron nod their agreement. Hagrid sniffled in the corner.

"Oh you've all grown up," he sniffed, "It breaks my heart."

"Now there, Hagrid," Hermione got up and rubbed his back. Then Lily was instantly reminded of a second McGonagall. She thought of the adorable raven-haired girl she'd met all those years ago in the 1930's.

"It's great seeing you again Lily," Ron clapped her back sincerely.

Harry nodded in agreement, "I miss you, Mum. I've been thinking since that afternoon, and I only get so many chances to see you again. I don't want to spend them fighting with you or—just not being nice."

Warmth filled Lily's heart towards Harry for the first time. She did something that surprised her:

She got up and went to hug her son.

Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes 

**June 2nd, 2001**

**Hogsmeade**

There was a man with brown hair streaked with strands of gray with his back turned towards Lily. He was arguing softly with another man in similar robes and long, black hair that looked just a tad greasy to Lily. She let out a small gasp of delight, but even she couldn't hear it due to the noise level in the enormous shop she was in. She was surrounded by hundreds of kids, all in school robes, and adults in what appeared to be the best joke shop ever. There were all kinds of gags, candy, products, and wonderful looking stuff on the shelves, air, and counters. Things levitated, flew, exploded, and just were plain exciting. It was like being in a mosh pit.

What Lily saw next both delighted and surprised her: A sturdy looking man about six feet tall with bright red hair was standing on top of a counter. He was dressed in a bright green, expensive-looking, scaly jacket with dark, slouchy Muggle blue jeans. His hair was short and wet looking like Ron's was, but was extraordinarily spiky-looking. There was a barcode tattoo on the back of his neck, and he was now delivering a very charming and hilarious speech to the crowd. Everyone was roaring with laughter and there were many sounds of muffled explosions throughout the store.

Suddenly—there were two of the man! They looked exactly like each other—

Merlin!

"FRED! GEORGE!" Lily screamed on the top of her lungs. No use; everyone else was screaming their name.

"_Amplifio!_" Lily muttered the charm under her breath.

"FRED! GEORGE!"

The whole store stopped and stared at Lily.

"Okay, look, that was a seriously cool, but for the sake of everyone's eardrums amplifying charms are a big 'no-no' here," Fred grinned at her.

"Yeah, we really care about your eardrums......and also we care about keeping your lawyers off our back," George added. They tossed roses out to the crowd and they roared in delight. Finally, the twins Apparated next to Lily, momentarily surprising her.

"Well, what a delight seeing you again."

"You and Harry have worked out your romantic problems I suppose?"

"Yeah, when Fred and I last left you two, you were spouting off about......oh, I don't know if I recall this correctly, but you were upset with him for having a crush on you?"

"Yup, that's the way I remember it," Fred nodded his confirmation, and George grinned at Lily's blushing face.

"That was a mistake."

"Dammit, that was a hellavu mistake!" Fred crowed.

"So," George slung his arm around Lily's shoulders friendly-like, "What are you up to Lils?"

"You got tattoos?" Lily stated dubiously.

"Oh. Yeah these. See, George and I went to bed one night all innocent-like and we woke up with these suckers on the back of our necks."

"Hah, innocent like my arse. Probably had something to do with our being in the Hog's Head at the time with those two women—

"Oh yeah the ones that wouldn't take the masks off their faces."

"Now those two chicks were seriously weird."

"Agreed."

Lily laughed for what was the first time in a long, long time. Fred and George both grinned.

"Our work here is done."

"Yeah," Fred agreed, "Lils, nice talking to you. But George and I, see, we're really busy running an empire here, so we'll catch you later."

"This is _yours_?" Lily was stunned.

"Sure, the whole chain is. We're self-made millionaires, Fred and I," George winked.

"That's—that's great!"

"We think so too," Fred nodded, "Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes."

"Awesome. Well I'll see you later," Lily smiled. The two twins grinned back and then Apparated back to the counter to entertain the crowd some more. Then Lily realized she had forgotten to ask them the date. She cursed.

The twins did look a lot older, Lily thought. The last time she had seen them they were sixteen. Now they looked to be in their early twenties.

She saw the familiar black haired head bobbing in the crowd. The man was still arguing with the brown haired man. Lily pushed her way through the crowd and soon enough, she finally arrived to where the two men were standing. They turned around quite suddenly and each person was equally shocked.

Lily found herself facing (and madly blushing) Severus Snape and Remus Lupin at age forty-one. Snape and Lupin found themselves facing a fifteen-year-old Lily Evans.

Remus Lupin recovered first:

"Hello, Lily. Did you just arrive?"

"About—about ten minutes ago. I—um—I was talking to Fred and George."

"Ah," Lupin smiled, looking at the twins booming at the crowd with their amplified voices fondly, "Yes those two. They turned out to be rather successful—their mother's quite pleased with them......except for one nasty incident when they seemingly woke up with barcode tattoos on the back of their necks."

"Oh yes," Snape commented dryly, now recovered from the shock of seeing Lily again, "We could hear the shrieking all the way at Hogwarts."

Lupin chuckled, "Yes, Molly's got quite a voice on her. Now then, Lily, do you know when you are?"

Lily shook her head, still blushing whenever she looked at Snape. She noticed that Snape couldn't stop staring at her.

Blissfully unaware of the blatant chemistry between Snape ogling at Lily, Lupin continued:

"It's the second of June, 2001. We're celebrating what appears to be the—ah—fourth anniversary of the opening of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes."

That snapped Lily out of her trance like state.

"2001? Oh......that's almost the furthest I've gone."

"Almost?" Snape inquired.

"There was this one time.......it was night, and it was raining. I was in Hogsmeade, just outside the Hog's Head looking into the window. I saw three people; and I know one of them was Ron Weasley, but I couldn't see the other two really clearly. There were a lot of strange things around—Muggle stuff. There were also these futuristic looking Muggle cars too........" Lily trailed off.

"Hmm, I see. Well, I shouldn't imagine you would be wanting to pay the school a visit since everybody you know has graduated. You might want to try stopping by the Ministry of Magic though. Pay Harry and Hermione a visit." Lupin smiled a tired smile.

"What does Ron do?"

Snape was now trailing off to look at some fangs that transformed the wearer into a vampire for a whole sixty seconds, guaranteed, but Lupin answered Lily's question.

"He just launched his own line of broomsticks. He used to only design them for professional Quidditch teams, but now he's manufacturing them for the wizarding public. There's talk of them surpassing the quality of the entire Nimbus line, Firebolt included."

Lily was impressed, "That's good. The Weasley kids don't seem like the type to have a desk job or anything."

"Yes, they're quite innovative. Ginny Weasley—you know, Virginia Weasley? She works at a wizarding record company and manages all sorts of famous bands, like the Weird Sisters."

"The Weird Sisters?"

Remus frowned, "Ah yes. They weren't around in the seventies. Well, just be assured that she works with only the top bands. Remarkable for a girl only two years out of school."

Lily was silent.

"I can't believe it's you Remus."

The man standing in front of her didn't look like the Remus she knew at all. There was a passing resemblance of course, but he was just tired, strained, and sad looking. He had lines, not heavy, but noticeable, and his blue eyes were lighter in color. His hair was longer than what was fashionable amongst the people surrounding Lily.

"What—what do Harry and Hermione do?"

"Harry just qualified to become an Auror. He's thrilled about it, although Severus there gave him a hard enough time in N.E.W.T. Potions, but that's over with. Hermione works in the Department of Justice with a sort of multi-career. She's a lawyer, judge, and a scholar. Hermione does all kinds of writing for the department, books on Muggle treatment, law theory, how we should have an intersecting policy and learn from each other......and on it goes. She's a very clever young woman."

"And you, Remus? How are you?" Lily smiled.

Remus lowered his voice considerably, unnecessary though because it was so loud nobody could hear him unless you were as close to him as Lily was.

"I mostly do some work for Dumbledore, but I'm working with Hermione on a bill for more werewolves' rights on the side."

Lily frowned, "Werewolves' rights? What does that have to do with you Remus?" I mean—I think it's noble and all—I didn't mean it like that, but I was just wondering about it's significance—why you chose that particular......" Lily trailed off again.

Remus was looking at her funny.

"You didn't know I was a werewolf?"

Lily gasped.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not scared," Lily protested, "That just caught me off guard a little bit."

"Understandable," Remus nodded.

A thought occurred to Lily.

"How's Harry's love life?" she asked bluntly.

Remus looked surprised and Severus glanced upwards at them briefly from a pack of Canary Creams.

Chuckling, Remus replied, "Do you know Luna Lovegood?"

Lily shook her head.

"Ah, well. Those two have known each other since fifth year, but they started dating in seventh. The wedding's scheduled for this winter."

"The wedding!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Who knows? Maybe I'll get a chance to see my grandkid one day," she grinned at Remus, expecting him to smile back. But he didn't.

An uncomfortable silence ensued.

Remus was going to say something, but Lily was already gone, blackness settling where she once was.


	9. The Dipaternal Effect

**St. Mungo's Magical Hospital**

**March 7th, 1942**

**Lily has been trapped for six months**

Healer Julian Handel was checking through the filing system for a patient's records when his Healer-in-training informed him he had a patient waiting for him.

"You better come quick," he said, shaking his head.

Julian followed his trainee up the flights of stairs to the lobby where the patient was waiting for him. He was surprised to see a lovely young girl sitting in an uncomfortable chair watching a wizard with a teapot for a head stumble around the room.

"Miss?"

The girl looked up at him and smiled. She stood up, and it was then when Julian noticed immediately that she was heavy with pregnancy. She was probably six months along or so.

"Follow me and we'll have your check-up."

Julian faced the young girl who was sitting on the table. She brushed a strand of dark red hair out of her startlingly green eyes and smiled again.

"I haven't been to the Healer's for a while."

"Not even with your pregnancy?"

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.

"I'm—I'm pregnant?"

Julian and his trainee stood in dumbfounded silence.

"You.......you didn't know you were pregnant?" Julian asked dubiously, his eyes resting on her bulging belly.

"No!" she gasped, "No! I just thought I had some disease that made my metabolism all wrong."

Another silence ensued.

"I see," Julian finally spoke, "How old are you miss?"

"Twelve and a half."

Another silence.

"Well, biologically, I'm fifteen and a half."

"Biologically?"

"Look, you know about the Hogwarts' apparition right?"

"Ah!" Julian suddenly understood, "You're Lily Evans!"

Lily Evans was sitting in some cafe on the street watching the world of March 7th, 1942 going by. She was pregnant? It was so unbelievable. Lily sipped her coffee (they didn't make decaf in 1942), wondering who was the father. Was it Snape? Or could it be (she shivered) Albus Dumbledore?

Lily knew it was Dumbledore's. After all, the healer, Julian, had told her she was at least six months along, and Snape and her hadn't gotten together until she was traveling for nearly two months.

She paid for her coffee and stood up, her belly heavy. It was harder to walk now, and even harder to travel. Because of this pregnancy, her body had been veering away from traveling into the future because of the additional weight it placed on her and opted for the lighter gravity of the past. She had spent two weeks in 1942 now, and truth be told Lily Evans was getting tired of it.

She was also reeling from disbelief from what the Healer had also told her. Among the wizarding community, a rare magical incident sometimes took place among witches pregnant with children. If they procreated with more than one man during their pregnancy, there was a possibility that the child could have TWO fathers, Lily's egg being fertilized by two different kinds of hardy, magical sperm. The thought made her sick—the thought of the child being both from Albus and Severus.

Julian had tested the baby's genes with his wand for an abnormalities and he had detected this rare magical phenomenon. Lily had passed out when she found out.

The blackness had abandoned her, but she still felt the presence of the void tugging at her insistently. That meant she was going to be staying in 1942 for a long, long while.

St. Mungo's Magical Hospital 

**June 10th, 1942**

**Lily has been trapped for nine months **

Julian looked into the observatory for the newborn babies from the glass windows. The fifteen-year-old's child was a beautiful, little girl, but Julian had to admit that even for a witch, the child was very, very unusual looking. The girl had dark red hair with a shock of black in it. One eye was the same startling, green shade that the fifteen-year-old, Lily Evans, had and the other was black with flecks of icy blue. The skin was pale, but the gene tests foretold no freckles. Julian shook his head; he had only seen one other baby that was the product of the Dipater effect (the word was a combination of the Latin stems for 'two' and 'father'), and as far as he could tell, the children were odd looking when this happened.

Lily Evans had fallen in love with the child though, like a good mother should. Julian was glad. Lily had named it Charlene Ann Evans.

Pleased, the Healer Julian Handel took the baby back for further observation. Lily had agreed to come by the next day to pick up her child at noon.

Noon the next day came and went. Lily wasn't there.

A very disappointed Julian called up the nearest adoption agency to inform them there was an abandoned one-day old child waiting for adoption.

Grovefield Cemetery 

**September 19th, 1984**

"No!" Lily shrieked, "You can't do this! I had a daughter!" She pounded her fists against the hard earth. It was afternoon, but the sky had black, rolling clouds, torn by lightning bolts and enormous crashes of thunder. There was no rain, only white-hot electricity in the sky.

The ground was covered with scraggly, pale green and yellow grass. There were sloping hills as far as the eye could see—and they were all covered by tombstones.

Lily lay in a curled up ball on the ground sobbing. She knew she was in the future, not only because of the weightiness she felt, but because of the tombstone that she saw in front of her:

**Here lies:**

**Lily A. Potter**

**Born: August 20th, 1960**

**Died: July 31st, 1982**

**R.I.P.**

"No," Lily gasped.

She would die in 1982? How was that possible? She would only live to be twenty-two years old? Even worse was the tombstone that lay right next to hers.

**Here lies:**

**James Potter**

**Born: January 1st, 1960**

**Died: July 31st, 1982**

"Why is this happening?" she cried out.

A cold hand touched her shoulder and she screamed.

"Shut up," the man hissed.

Lily's eyes widened.

"Severus?"

The young man crouched down and sat, leaning against James Potter's headstone. His black hair was long and shaggy, and his skin even paler than usual. His face was smooth and had none of the craggy lines of his forty-one-year-old self. His eyes were still black and piercing as ever.

"Rather an unsatisfactory place to end up in, isn't it?"

Lily nodded.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sniffling one last time.

Severus looked at her for a long while before pulling the sleeve of his robes up, revealing a dark mark on his left forearm.

"What is that?" Lily frowned.

"The Dark Mark," Snape exhaled, and let the sleeves of his robes fall. "I work for the Dark Lord now—his follower. A Death Eater."

Lily let out a small whimper.

"But why?" Her eyes were tearing.

Snape ran his fingers through her hair, breathing in her scent.

"Because I chose to. Also because the Dark Lord and I are related distantly. Amongst other reasons." He kissed her neck.

"Severus?"

"Hmm?" He looked up at her.

"I just had your and Dumbledore's child yesterday."

There was a long silence.

"Mine and Dumbledore's?"

"The Dipater effect," Lily rested her forehead against her own cool tombstone.

"Jesus Christ."

Severus Snape rubbed his temples with his fingers.

"You slept with Dumbledore? Jesus Lily. You have quite the affinity for professors don't you?" he sneered at her.

"It was a hundred and fifty years ago."

"That doesn't change anything! Sure, Dumbledore would've been what? In his twenties? But that doesn't change that you willingly slept with......_Albus Dumbledore_!"

"I didn't."

"You didn't what? Willingly sleep with him?"

"Yes."

"He raped you?"

"No!" Lily shouted. "He didn't! Merlin."

Another long silence ensued.

"Fine. So what happened?"

"I was kind of drugged from a really long trip back into the past and he was......well I guess he was just drunk."

Severus let out a short laugh.

"This is so fking unbelievable."

Lily just stared at his forearm.

"You support him?"

"Yes. Is that so surprising?"

Lily's eyes met his.

"Lily. Look at me." Severus exhaled, "What is....what is my future? Being a professor—it doesn't exactly fall in what I do now."

"No," Lily said, "It doesn't."

"Do I change?"

"That's exactly what it means."

Severus reached out for her, but Lily was already fading away.

"Lily. I'm sorry—I love you."

Lily didn't reply because she couldn't return his love.

She finally dissolved, leaving Snape to stare at the tombstone of James Potter.

Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft 

**June 8th, 1993**

Lily's eyes opened, and she was staring at a horrible sight. A white-faced man with slits for eyes was staring out at her from the back of a man's head. Lily wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her.

She realized what was wrong; she wasn't in her own body—she was in a boy's. There was a mirror nearby: the Mirror of Erised, and Lord Voldemort was now speaking to her—to the boy.

"Yes, your parents were foolish. Your mother gave her life for yours.....even though her life could be spared—

Lily was hit by a wave of blackness and her form was sucked out of the boy's. Just before she was completely dissolved, she saw the bright, green eyes of her son staring at her.

The Potter Hideout 

**July 31st, 1982**

Again, she wasn't in her own body, and she had no control over her movements. She could only sit back and watch as a spectator as the person she possessed went about doing her business. Lily had a sneaking suspicion of who she was in, but her suspicion wasn't confirmed until the woman started brushing her hair in her mirror.

An adult face looked out at Lily's—her own. Her dark red hair fell in long waves and her green eyes had matured. Her face was sharper and less round and babyish like it was now, and her body had grown a little leaner.

Lily watched as Lily number 2 walked down to the kitchen to get out a jar of baby food, and her heart lurched. Baby food? That meant she had.....Harry was already born? Her mind traveled back to the thunderous afternoon at the cemetery with Snape. Her tombstone had read 1982, and Harry was born in 1981 if her math was correct. If what she suspected was correct, she was very near to her own day of death.

Lily watched as Lily number 2 walked up the flight of stairs again with the baby food. A baby with a healthy amount of black hair and lovely green eyes was cooing at her from a crib.

"Hi Harry," her adult voice said, "How are you today?" Lily set down the baby food jar and scooped Harry from his crib. Lily watched as Lily number 2 swept Harry into the air and sang lovingly to him. She knew it was Harry Potter for sure, but there just seemed to be something missing from him.

It her in a flash: there was no lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.

She recalled Ron's words from 1996:

_"He's Harry Potter."_

_"You make it sound as if everybody should know him....."_

The door opened and Lily number 2 set down Harry in his crib. It was night so Lily number 2 turned on a few lights before greeting whoever it was at the door.

If Lily had control over her body she would let out a startled gasp, but instead Lily number 2 wrapped her arms around the young man with hazel eyes and black hair.

"Hi honey."

James Potter kissed Lily number 2 on the lips and Lily felt an electric shock course through her. She had never felt this with (she shivered inwardly) Dumbledore or Snape. James let her go and smiled.

"How's Harry doing?"

"Wonderful. Would you like to see him?"

"Always," James kissed her again on the lips.

Lily watched as Lily number 2 and James played with what was possibly the happiest Harry Potter she had ever seen. In the future, she had always wondered why Harry Potter was such a sallow and troubled character, but after seeing both her and James Potter's tombstones, she could guess why.

Then what she saw gave her the shock of her life.

The calendar in the nursery was open and all the boxes were checked off. The words 'Days till Harry's birthday' were scribbled underneath the red 'x' marks through the boxes.

According to the calendar, it was July 31st, 1982.

It was night.

Lily and James were still alive.

"Where's Sirius?" Her older self spoke.

"He's—

But James was interrupted by a loud crashing noise downstairs. James whipped out his wand.

The next series of events that took place flashed through Lily's eyes. She tried to reach her wand, but a blinding, green light flashed, blinding her. She stumbled, and she saw James's lifeless body in front of her.

"NO!" she shrieked in agony.

Lily leapt upwards and ran towards the crib where Harry was.

"Get out of the way you foolish girl," a high, cold voice told her.

She was almost there......

Lord Voldemort raised his wand:

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

The green light shot out, directed right at Harry Potter. The older Lily made a mad leap for it and blocked the curse from hitting Harry. The last thing Lily saw from Lily number 2's body was a blinding green light. The older Lily's lifeless body collapsed on the floor, and Lily's form floated out, invisible.

"Pity," Voldemort said, "She could've been spared......."

Why would he want to spare Lily Evans?

Harry Potter was now squalling in horror. Lily's heart broke and her misty form tried to reach for him, but Lord Voldemort was hindering her.

"So you are the boy who is supposed to defeat me. Well, true to the words of the prophecy, none can live while the other exists. Allow me to eliminate you......"

He raised his wand.

"No!" Lily thought, "Stop! Please!"

"_Avada Kedavra_."

The green light shot out of his wand and enveloped Harry Potter. The baby cried out, but then the green light wavered and then ricocheted, shooting back at Lord Voldemort.

"AAAAGHHHHH!" he roared.

The baby shrieked again. Voldemort convulsed and from his wand, still pointing at Harry Potter, bright green sparks shot out and went right into the boy's forehead. The baby was thrown back against the crib, still wailing madly. Voldemort disappeared, moaning in pain and formless, like Lily was.

Lily floated to where Harry was. His forehead was no longer smooth and white.

A black, lightning bolt-shaped scar had now formed.

"Oh, Merlin," Lily breathed.

Harry Potter was indeed famous. He was famous because he had defeated Lord Voldemort on this night of July 31st, 1982, the night Lily and James Potter died.

Hogsmeade 

**December 27th, 2021**

**The Hog's Head**

**Lily has been trapped for a year**

The rain fell in sheets, so hard and fast that the streets of Hogsmeade were muddy and flooded. Waterfalls ran, sweeping wizards and witches alike off their feet and the same strange cars roared past the village, the Muggles inside not seeing the several buildings and bright lights. When Lily looked up, she couldn't see the stars due to the lights and all the airplanes that constantly roared overhead. She waded her way through the calf-deep water towards the nearest building, the Hog's Head.

Lily suddenly stopped wading. There was a young girl, around eleven or twleve years old with dark, wet red hair peering into a foggy window.

_Oh, Merlin._

It was Lily Evans herself! She was witnessing herself peering into that window on that rainy night far into the distant future at age twelve. It was incredible.

The younger Lily started to slowly fade away and then just seconds later two men and a petite woman burst through the pub's door.

"Lily!" the dark-haired man roared through the night.

"I'm here!" Lily shouted from the middle of the street, all too aware of her adult voice.

The three figures ran towards her and together, they all struggled against the current of water rushing down the streets and into the Hog's Head. Once Lily was able to focus her eyes without the water constantly pouring into them, she recognized her old friends, Ron and Hermione and her son, Harry James Potter.

Ron had grown well into his wiry, lean body. As a fully-grown adult a decade from being middle-aged, his leanness and wiriness was more of an advantage since he now was not afflicted with a paunchy stomach or saggy skin. His face was harder and had lines, his hair was much longer than Lily had ever seen it and was thinner, but red as ever. He oozed of charisma and on his left hand was a solid, gold band.

Harry too, had long hair like Ron's, but it had a shock of gray in it. His skin was less lined, but he had deeper wrinkles around his eyes and forehead. His glasses were gone; his muscular body had dissipated into Ron's leanness and wiriness, and his facial features and chin were stronger. He too, had a gold band around his ring finger. Lily's eyes traveled to his forehead, and sure enough, the lightning bolt scar was still there.

Hermione still remained a small woman, but her hair was cut shorter in a wavy, chin-length bob. She had pierced ears with two holes in each ear, and two small, silver hoops hung from each hole. Her face had no lines or wrinkles, but she had dark under-eye circles and a sad, hardened face. Her body was straight and true, and her robes were cinched around her small waist. On her wrist, a tattoo of a silver phoenix was snaked around, magically enhanced to move and twist itself around her wrist.

"Lily? We just saw you from the window," Hermione gestured towards the foggy window.

"No. That was my twelve-year-old self," Lily explained.

"Hmm, yeah I see." Ron nodded, but Harry was looking at a woman with pale, blond hair anxiously.

"Who are you looking at?" Lily asked.

"It's great to see you again, Mum. It's been a long time," Harry hugged Lily, but didn't answer her question. The pale blond woman turned around and her misty, protuberant, blue eyes met hers. She was delicate, but had a certain strength that emanated from her.

"Lily Potter?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Lily nodded.

Harry bent his head down and kissed the woman on the lips lovingly. Lily spied a small diamond on the woman's ring finger.

"Lily, that's Luna Lovegood, Harry's wife," Hermione explained, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"Aren't those bad for you?" Lily motioned towards the cigarettes.

Ron snorted, but charmingly so, "Not for our Hermione. She found a way to reverse the harmful effects of the tobacco so instead of looking even more old and wrinkled like us, she basically looks like she's still twenty."

Hermione grinned and gave Ron a kiss on the lips.

Lily felt dizzy. She felt uncomfortable having her friends as adults, as people who were old enough to be her parents, around her and snogging each other. Hermione also had an engagement ring and wedding ring around her finger so she assumed that Ron and Hermione were married to each other.

"We were just heading back home," Harry said suddenly to Lily, "Would you like to come with Luna and me? We have some people we'd like you to meet."

"Lily Potter?" a man's voice rang from behind her, "Is that you?"

She turned around. A strong-looking man with a rounder face than average was grinning at her. He had black hair, brown eyes, and a seven o' clock shadow. His eyebrows were long and craggy and he looked at her up and down, smiling.

"Long time no see, Lily."

Lily clamped her hand over her mouth.

"Neville!"

"Longbottom, what's up?" Ron clapped his hand on Neville's back.

"They're giving me and Harry hell at the Aurors' department, but other than that, nothing else is new."

"How's Josselyn?" Hermione asked, taking a long drag from her cigarette.

"She's good too, but we're still trying to work things out for the better. For the kids too, you know."

Luna nodded her head.

"Oh, wow, Neville," Lily breathed, "You've really changed. I mean....you look so much like your father."

There was a moment's silence, but finally Neville replied:

"Thank you, Lily."


	10. County Orphanage

**County Orphanage**

**March 7th, 1909**

**Lily has been trapped for 6 months**

Lily Evans had a splitting headache when she first landed on the hard, cobblestone roads of London, 1909. She had no idea as to why she was in this specific place or time, but she found it was usually best to start walking and the people she would need to meet would just find her. Quickly doing some mental calculations, she concluded that none of her professors would be alive. Only Albus Dumbledore, who would be sixty-six years old, was alive. Lily really didn't want to see him though.

There was an orphanage across the cobblestone road. Lily quickly decided to get out of the road although it was night and there wasn't much horse and buggy traffic. The orphanage wasn't well-kept, but its door was solid and had a brass knocker in the shape of a serpent's head. Lily involuntarily shivered.

Suddenly, the door opened. A portly, middle-aged Muggle woman was squinting at her.

"You need a place to stay?" she asked sharply.

Wondering how the woman knew she had been outside of the door, Lily nodded. Why not? She didn't know where else she'd go in a London barely out of the nineteenth century.

"Come in. Quickly."

Lily obeyed and the woman shut the door behind her. Inside, it was dark with a single light bulb lighting up the hall. The rooms were cluttered with bodies of sleeping children, but other than the bulb, the only light came from kerosene lamps and candlesticks strategically placed on a nightstand or a shelf.

"You'll need to work to earn your keep here—

"I'm just staying for—

"I don't care. Even if you're going to leave in the morning, you need to work before you leave to earn this night's stay."

Teeth clenched, Lily sucked it in and agreed.

"Good. Go sleep with Cae. She's the strange-looking girl with red hair."

Sure enough, Lily saw a ten year-old girl with red hair smeared with black charcoal resting peacefully. Gingerly, Lily stepped around the sleeping bodies to the empty spot next to Cae. She noticed that the sea of children seemed to avoid the ten year-old girl so that a large, open circle was left around her. Lily hoped it was for some silly, childish reason and not because the girl was dangerous.

"I'll be upstairs. Don't disturb me unless it's an emergency," the woman with gray hair said crisply. "You can call me Madam Lund."

With that, she whirled around, black dress billowing—Lily was forcibly reminded of a grown-up Snape.

Lily quietly set herself down to the floor, which was only covered with a scratchy blanket. Several of the kids around her were shivering with cold, but Cae seemed to sleep peacefully, a warm glow emitting from her body. As Lily lay herself down, she heard a crinkling of a piece of paper in her robes.

Intrigued, she searched in her pockets for the piece of paper. She removed a piece of lined, notebook paper—and instantly recognized it from the future. Even worse, it was the piece of paper Hermione had given her with the written destination the future Professor Flitwick was supposed to pull her out of! She eagerly opened it, but then her heart sank:

_Dear Lily,_

_I'm so sorry for what has all happened. You're a very courageous young girl, but after all these years, I've been stumbling on quite a few facts that seem to be connected with you and your endeavors in time. I can't quite specify—to preserve the timeline as you know—but you must travel a bit longer. It pains me to do this: I'm not sure if I'm preserving our timeline or simply just unnecessarily unleashing an evil into the wizarding world. _BUT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO FIND A WAY. _Once you arrive in October 31st, 1925, arrange the meeting of the two persons Marvolo Riddle and Caedmon County. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU DO THIS_. _I will give you two chances to _find the way_, but then I will retract you on the approximate date of January 1st, 1975_. _Good luck._

_Flitwick_

Find a way? Lily crumpled the paper back into her pocket with dismay. What was Flitwick talking about? Even worse, Lily still had no idea if she was nearing the date of her rescue or not. And what who was Marvolo Riddle? And Caedmon County? The name sounded vaguely familiar….

She quickly looked at the girl sleeping next to her. Cae? Could her full name be Caedmon? And this was called the County Orphanage. Could it be possible that Cae, having no parents, took the surname of the orphanage? It was very likely. Cae was the right age now for her to be an adult in 1925. Twenty-six years old.

Lily was suddenly very tired. She would sleep now and figure this out later….

**A/N: There's a lot of major clues in this chapter if you want to try figuring out the story. I think I hid one really, really well that will surprise you (you know, to balance out the oh, so obvious clue about Marvolo Riddle…) if you take the time to look for it. Hint: it's a description. :-D**


	11. Charlene Ann

**The County Orphanage**

**May 7th, 1909**

**Lily has been trapped for 6 months**

Lily groaned with dismay; somebody was shaking her, trying to wake her up.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" the young voice chided her, "It's time to start the workday!"

Lily suddenly remembered where she was. The County Orphanage! The previous night's memories all came rushing back to her and she was afflicted with a horrible migraine.

"Uh…I have a headache."

"That's no excuse," the young girl's voice was still chattering, "One time I had dysentery and she still made me sort some of the dirty laundry. Mind you, when I went to the bathroom all over the rags, she finally took me to that vile doctor next door." The girl laughed.

Lily focused her eyes on the young girl. There were still blurry spots, but she was slowly waking up. The orphanage, quiet and dark the previous night, was now lighted with the gray twilight of the early dawn. Children, ranging from ages five to eighteen, were bustling around, some scrubbing floors, some practicing various instruments, and others sweeping, mopping, and dusting. There was a boy who read a newspaper in the corner, but other than that and the instruments, the orphanage seemed to be all about manual labor.

Lily realized the girl who now had her back facing her was the same red-headed girl from last night. She was correcting a boy who was playing discordant notes on a piano.

"Are you Cae?" Lily asked her, struggling to get to her feet.

The girl whirled around and grinned brightly.

"Yup! And what's your name?"

Lily Evans reeled backwards. There was something horrible about the girl; no it wasn't a deformity, but Madam Lund wasn't exaggerating last night: the girl was definitely strange-looking…and all too familiar. She had a small face but her structure was almost identical to Lily's; her nose was just a bit long and had a small hook. She was very pretty, especially with her flaming red hair and pale, creamy skin, but Lily was horrified by the eyes.

They were the same pair of eyes she'd seen gazing at her through a glass screen that day on June 10th, 1942. One was a brilliant green and the other was an icy black with flecks of blue.

"Are you okay missus?" the girl asked, concerned. She was drawing closer…

"No! I mean…yes!" Lily's mind was still working furiously. Her daughter? How could her daughter be here in 1909…and already ten years old?

"Are you sure? Because you know…" the girl lowered her voice devilishly, "You can just run out of here—that is if you know if you're definitely not coming back. Madam Lund would never be able to find you, and you don't look so well so…it's your choice." The girl winked and grinned again.

It did sound rather appealing. But she had to know if this girl was her daughter.

"Did you know your mother?" Lily asked.

The girl's eyes narrowed and she suddenly grabbed a bucket full of soapy water and a rag from an older girl. The older girl didn't object; rather she scampered away, quite uneasy.

"Do you think I knew her? She left me here to rot in this rathole," she said sharply.

"No!" Lily said automatically, not thinking.

The girl looked up at her questioningly.

"I mean…that is, I knew your mother. She had a problem; she was taken from you involuntarily on the day of your birth."

"Look missus," Cae started washing the windows with the pilfered pail and rags, "What are you? Sixteen? Fifteen? You couldn't have been more an' six when my mother left me."

"My name is Lily Evans," Lily offered, taking a rag from Cae's bucket.

The bucket suddenly dropped from Cae's hand.

"STUPID GIRL!" Madam Lund roared; she'd been watching Cae and Lily suspiciously from across the room. "NOW MICHAEL HAS TO GO FETCH MORE CLEAN WATER!"

"I'm sorry Madam," Cae breathed shakily under her breath. She glanced at Lily with fear in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Lily whispered.

"My mother's name was Lily Evans."

Lily stopped picking up the spilled rags. Had the healer told the orphanage her name when he gave Cae to it? For that matter, why was Cae's name Cae? She had named her daughter Charlene Ann—

_Of course_.

**C**harlene **A**nn **E**vans. Cae.

"Cae, why are all the people here afraid of you?" Lily stopped Cae from furiously picking up the rags by grabbing her wrist.

"I'm different," Cae hissed, "Please let go of me. I don't know why you're doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Claiming to be my mother!"

"No," Lily said, "You're different. I'm also different. You see, we're witches."

Cae gasped and then slapped Lily in the face.

"_How dare you_? These are uneasy times. How could you call us witches? We're of no sort—well I don't know about _you_, but I know—

"_Evanscus_," Lily muttered, pointing her wand that she had pulled out of her robes at the puddle of water. The water disappeared. Fortunately, none of the orphaned Muggles noticed; they were too busy working.

Cae, however, did notice. Oh, she did notice.

"Oh my Lord," she breathed. She'd also seen the jets and sparks of magic escape from the wand.

"I'm stuck in time, Cae. I had you just a day ago; I was pulled away by the time stream on the day of your birth—believe me, I would've done anything to stay with you…Charlene."

Cae whimpered.

"I love you already sweetie," Lily pulled Cae in and hugged her tightly. "I promise I will see you again after this."

"What? You're _leaving_? Leaving me in this wretched place?"

"No, no…" Lily smiled mischievously, "I have a feeling that you're going to get your ticket out of here very soon…."

The blackness overcame Lily and she slowly faded away from her daughter's embrace.

**The County Orphanage**

**August 1st, 1910**

Lily was in a dark room again, lit by a solitary candle. A figure was huddled over her bed, arms wrapped around her legs. She saw the bright red hair with the black streak—not charcoal, Lily realized, but Snape's genes working at hand—but she was most disconcerted by the sobs.

"Cae?" she called out softly.

The girl whirled around. "Mama!" she cried with delight.

Lily was taken aback at how much the girl had aged already. She was just beginning to form her first traces of the curves she would have as a woman.

"Why are you crying?" Lily asked.

"Oh!" she sniffed, "It's so _stupid_, really. I got a letter from this school…a private school I think, but Madam Lund's confiscated it. She thinks it's a joke, but why would it be a joke? I got to thinking about you…and I didn't know if you were really my mama. Maybe all those tricks you did were just false magic. Like Harry Houdini." Cae sniffed again.

"You got a letter from a school?" Lily was suspicious. "What's today's date?"

"Why you don't know?" Cae's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry…I told you I was entrapped by time."

"I didn't know what that meant. You just travel to random places in time? Like Jules Verne?"

"Um…" Lily recalled Jules Verne as being her mother's favorite author from growing up in her Muggle home. "Yes. I suppose—the science fiction author right?"

"Yes. It's the first of August, nineteen hundred and ten."

"That's wonderful! You'd be eleven right?"

Cae nodded.

"It's about this time of the year when you receive your acceptance letter into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"The _what_?"

"Oh dear. Madam Lund didn't even let you see the letter?"

Cae shook her head.

"Well we'll have to fix that won't we?" Lily winked.

She crept silently to the door and tried to open it. It was locked.

"Why is it locked?"

"I was misbehaving. About the letter, you see," Cae explained, wiping her nose.

"Okay…" Lily exhaled, trying to keep her anger under control, "Okay, we can do this. _Accio!_"

There were a few shrieks and screeches, but the letter did eventually make it into their hands.

"Oh!" Cae's eyes widened again, "You did magic again. It's real?"

"Of course it is. And now you can do magic too—look."

Cae gingerly opened the letter, and after a few minutes of reading's time, her face lit up with delight.

"This is so…unbelievable. But this means I actually get to escape this? Live at school for the whole _year_?"

Lily nodded, smiling, "Yes, the whole school year."

"Oh! Oh, mama, thank you so much for being a witch!" Cae threw her arms around Lily.

Lily grinned; this probably also explained why the other kids were so terrified of Cae. She was the daughter of Albus Dumbledore—his great power—Severus Snape—his cool intellect and cunning—and herself, with well…Lily didn't really know what she had to offer, but it was all becoming very clear that if she wasn't careful, this extraordinary young lady could not only become someone great.

She could become someone horrible…dark and evil.


	12. The Unexpected Sorting

**Hogwarts Express Train**

**September 1st, 1910**

Lily Evans found herself in a cramped bathroom, vivid Scotland scenery flashing by her eyes. She opened the window; it didn't smell too good in the bathroom, like somebody had just thrown up. There was no toilet—just a crude, old-fashioned chamber pot which she supposed was magically emptied occasionally. There was no sink either just a pail with dirty, soapy water. The only soap she could see was a yellow bar with traces of fat on it. She winced.

It was painfully obvious that she was still in 1910. The Hogwarts Express was brand, _brand_ new looking. When she'd met Minerva in the thirties, the train was new, but it was nothing compared to the train of this year. It was absolutely spiffy-looking.

The door opened and a young man with pale, blond hair screwed up his face.

"My apologies," he said in a cold voice, sounding not very sorry at all, "Did I interrupt something?"

Lily was busy leaning out of the window for some fresh air, so he didn't see her face yet. However, as Lily pulled into the train and out into the hall, facing the pale boy, his eyes widened.

"What are you _wearing_?" But his voice was heavy, dripping with lust.

Lily looked at her robes. They were tattered, torn, so a lot of her legs were showing. She was wearing a seventies blouse with the top two buttons unbuttoned under the robes and a seventies polyester miniskirt. It was all ridiculously tight because of her growth spurt from twelve to fifteen.

"Uh…" Lily stumbled, knowing that if it was still anywhere near the early twentieth century, she was screwed, "What year is it?"

"Nineteen hundred and ten," the boy responded, still staring at her chest, threatening to burst out of her blouse.

"Uh thanks. _Reparo_," she muttered. Her clothes immediately repaired themselves. They were still too tight, but the robes now covered her legs and the blouse…mostly.

"Pardon me," the boy caught up with her, now leering approvingly. "I'm Charon Malfoy…" he took her hand and kissed it, lips lingering, "And your name would be?..."

Lily snatched her hand back in disgust.

"Lucius Malfoy?" she spat.

Charon frowned, "Charon."

_Right. 1910, Lucius wouldn't be born yet. Heck, maybe his father hasn't even been born yet_.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Lily said quickly, hoping to get rid of him. "Have you seen a first year? Charlene Evans?"

Charon's face darkened, and his hand went to his prefect badge instinctively.

"The _strange_ half-blood?" he sneered; Lily had a feeling that if this weren't 1910 and if he wasn't so limited by the rules of cordiality, he would be much more explicit. She was reminded of a boy she heard laughing at her in Harry's time. Perhaps that was his descendant.

"No, not the strange half-blood," Lily responded coolly, "Charlene Evans."

"She's in the first year compartment, where else?" Charon no longer handled her like a lady. His grip was now rough and was squeezing her upper arm tighter and more appreciatively.

"Let go of me. I wouldn't want you to be contaminated…seeing as I'm _muggle born_."

Charon quickly let go. He leered at her chest once more, longingly, but then walked away.

Relieved to be rid of the horrid boy, Lily realized she had no idea where the first years' compartment was. They'd arranged the train differently in 1910…she peeked into the back hall where Charon had walked to. No, they were all older kids, in their seventh, sixth, and fifth years.

Walking to the front, she saw young teenagers and finally, the preteens were at the very front. To her horror, she saw a compartment had been specifically reserved for black Hogwarts students. She had no idea that Muggle racism was also present in the wizarding community in this time.

"Lily!" a girl's voice squawked, "Over here!"

Lily quickly apologized to the black students who were staring at her suspiciously, and closed the compartment.

She saw her daughter, Charlene Evans, waving at her, eyes bright, and cheeks flushed. She was dressed in a billowing dress, witch's robes, and a traveling cloak. The girl was definitely the prettiest first year of them all, and by far the most unique in the school.

"Cae!" Lily grinned, hugging her daughter.

"This is my older _sister_," Cae emphasized 'sister' for Lily's benefit, "She's a fifth year."

A crowd of first years chorused their hello's.

"Pleased to meet you," a boy with mousy, brown hair and spectacles said formally in a dull, monotonous voice. His eyes were also brown, but his uniform was a bit rumpled and painfully old-fashioned to Lily.

"What's your name?" she asked, trying to sound friendly.

"Hank. My name is Hank Binns," the boy held his hand out for Lily to shake it.

"Lily?" Cae inquired, "What's wrong?"

"We've already met," Lily said quietly, horror-struck.

Yes, they'd already met…but only Hank Binns had been transparent, looked about seventy years old, and was teaching an especially History of Magic class.

"You have?" Cae looked so innocent and unaware.

"I'll explain it to you someday."

Meanwhile, the boy looked entirely unfazed by all of this and merely retracted his hand, seemingly content to gaze out of the window.

The only professor she recognized in this time was Albus Dumbledore. She was surprised to see he looked not like an old man, but a fairly young, spree man who looked to be only as if he was in his early fifties. She couldn't avoid his crafty eyes though, but she did find it humorous that the man, so different from the older man she knew so well, actually had the decency to blush very brightly and look away in embarrassment.

Cae looked at Lily Evans questioningly. The poor girl. She'd just come from an orphanage, having no idea that her father was right in front of her. Even more, she had no idea that her second father was only to be born exactly forty-nine years later.

"Go stand with the professor over there," Lily whispered, "She'll tell you what to do."

Cae nodded and went towards the professor who was calling all the first years to gather round. Lily sat at the Gryffindor table, and earned some stares. She was new to them and she was wearing the most damnably strange outfit they'd ever seen before—and inappropriate.

Lily's excitement mounted as the line of first years dwindled and "Evans, Charlene!" was called forward. The applause for the previous first year subsided as the girl carefully walked to the stool and promptly sat down. Lily fondly recalled visiting her own Sorting Ceremony when she was performing the Avelford Charm, still biologically twelve years old. How different things were in the future! Even to her mind, it was cold and hard compared to the lovely antiquity of the past. And Harry's was even worse. Everything in the future was so unbelievably different in cultural terms, and of course technologically. It's hard to explain what Lily was feeling towards Cae's future at this time.

The Sorting Hat was placed on Cae's head. Lily's heart surged, having no doubt that with two Gryffindor genes, one from an especially powerful wizard, Cae would be sorted into the House of the Lion.

The Sorting Hat took the longest time with her. Lily could see Cae's face darkening with horror and the other professors were growing concerned with what the Hat could possibly be telling her. Suddenly, the Hat twisted Cae's head around and everyone screamed, Lily included. They grew calm again when they realized it was the Hat that had moved it so Cae could see Albus Dumbledore. Her face grew open with a new horror again as she listened to the Hat. Dumbledore frowned at Lily questioningly; he had seen her come in with Cae.

Finally the Hat had seemed to reach a decision, much to Cae's protests:

"SLYTHERIN!" it roared.

For a few seconds, the Great Hall was silent. Suddenly, all the boys at the Slytherin table exploded with applause; they were jubilant to have the most unique sorting and the most attractive girl sorted into their House.

Lily was numb, frozen. Albus recognized Lily's strange reaction and leaned into an older man, who Lily could only guess to be the Headmaster, and conferred with him quietly. The man nodded and made a motion.

The Sorting Hat was brought to Dumbledore and he departed with it, no doubt to interrogate it.

Meanwhile, Cae's excited face, as Slytherins surrounded her, congratulating her and fighting for a chance to touch this strongly appealing girl, was searching for her mother.

She was nowhere to be seen.


	13. Minerva Bites Bates in the Butt

**A/N:** wow. I really have to thank Blade-Claven for his wonderful reviews. I did try to keep you all on your toes, and I'm glad somebody's praised this effort ;-) (you could all do with taking some notes from him!)

But I don't want to neglect my other reviewers. I never got a chance to thank sweetsphyn—I'm glad you think Finding Lily Evans is good, but I have to say, the Dumbledore and Lily thing was a must…although that's not to say I was giggling hysterically to myself the whole time (you guys should be warned: I am really not good at writing sexy stuff so I apologize ::makes sad face:: )

And as for my Chain Reaction readers, I'm also glad you like it! I will be lavishing more of my attention on Finding Lily Evans however, because it is sadly lacking, but I will try to update Chain Reaction at least once or twice a week after finals week. Omg, they are a BEAST!!!

One more thing: (sorry this is so long) Chapter 13 of Finding Lily Evans will cover as to how our dear little Cae found herself in 1909. ::chuckles evilly::

**Sinchester Forest**

**Bulgaria**

**August 18th, 1965**

Lily felt herself being pulled away from the Hogwarts Great Hall of 1910 only to find, to her dismay, that rather than going backwards, which was what she now heartily preferred, she had traveled forward into time.

Another thing she was dismayed to find was that she was no longer solid. She was in the misty, apparition form that she had been right after she witnessed her own murder by Lord Voldemort. The air felt sticky and hot on her neck, but it was night so the sun was not out, blasting her full-powered. The air smelled foreign somehow—they were old-fashioned smells of spices, skins, and roasting-hot fire and they lessened the heavy, coldness of the future that was pressing on Lily. She had been spoiled by the antiquity of the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The smells were comforting, the air was hot, but suddenly, Lily felt herself being pulled to a distinctive coldness. To her horror, she soon found that she was quite _literally_ being pulled. Her body, now weightless and only misty colors, was being quickly pulled through a forest, sharp, twisting turns zooming by. It looked blurred to her eyes, like she was watching Dean Thomas play a Muggle video game in the nineties, only ten times faster.

Suddenly, she was watching a scene from a shaky, bird's-eye view. The air was no longer sticky and hot, but the nippy coolness of mountain air. Steep, raggedy cliffs surrounded the scene, and to the left was the forest she'd just been pulled through. Fog was rolling around the cliffs, threatening to pull into the clearing, but always, it held back as if it were shielded.

For a minute, Lily hovered above the scene, unconsciously flapping her arms as if it would help her stay afloat. She watched as dark-cloaked figures entered the scene. There weren't many, but there was a substantial amount. The coldness was now greatly increasing and Lily could sense magical power emanating from a particular figure in the middle.

He was a grown man—about thirty-five years old give or take a few years. His hair was thick and dark, his eyes a chocolate brown. His skin was unnaturally pallid—

Lily felt herself being pulled, like a Portkey would feel, and suddenly she felt quite different. She couldn't separate herself from the person she was now possessing.

She was older, stronger, and much more powerful. Her hair was short, cropped close to her head, and her hands were strong with long fingers clutching a long, but medium-thick wand. She could feel the magic coursing through her veins, but she also detected a new presence within her.

Hatred boiled in her heart, and her blood ran hot and cold at the same time. There was no trace of human decency or conscientiousness in her mind: only a strong, furious hatred for things so many she couldn't even begin to keep track. There was her father, a Muggle man who had taken advantage of her mother, a witch. There were the foul, stupid Muggles who had made her young life a living hell…there was that maddeningly provoking old man with his clear, blue eyes…he had always made her school days difficult….

"We wait here," her voice, deep and cold, spoke.

"Yes, my Lord," the figures responded obediently.

"We will see if he arrives," Lily continued in her cold voice, "It has been twenty years since my disappearance from the wizarding world. Let's see what the old man makes of my return."

Yes, she was strong, but she could sense that her physical body was not that of a young, spree man. She sensed her rippling muscles already deteriorating, her skin not so firm and tight. Still, the power in her veins compensated. It gave her a distinctive aura of youth and strength, far outstripping the old man.

An all too familiar voice, full of maddening gentleness and calmness, emanated from deep into the forest. A figure was nowhere to be seen, but although it was gentle, it was deep and reverberating, with a distinctive warning edge to it.

"Tom," it acknowledged Lily, "It has been far too long. You have changed…for the best I cannot say," he observed.

Lily felt rage boiling up in her again.

"Show yourself Dumbledore!" she growled, "And you will truly face me for my power and followers."

Lily felt a thrill of horror as a Dumbledore very much resembling the Dumbledore she knew so well when attending Hogwarts slowly came into visibility. Although his voice wasn't magically enhanced, it was still imposing and not the dry voice of an old man.

"What have you done to yourself, Tom?"

"I am Lord Voldemort," Lily hissed, "There is no Tom…quite literally. His soul has forever been separated from mine."

Lily saw a glint of worry in the old man's eyes.

"You have separated your soul? Voluntarily? What in the world were you thinking, jeopardizing your soul like that?"

"It's in no danger, just merely separated so its troublesome emotions won't get in my way. My ascent to power. The domination of the world."

Albus Dumbledore looked very grave.

"I had hoped you would turn out differently than what I have expected. By all means, I've prepared my defense. It had been only a question of whether or not you would be willing to take it to the highest extent. A reign of terror if you will…"

"Of course!" Lily practically screamed, "THEY WILL ALL DIE! The Mudbloods—_all of them_."

"What could've possibly driven you to this in the first place?" Dumbledore asked lewdly.

Lily Evans, not Voldemort, was getting the feeling that Dumbledore was seizing this opportunity to find out as much as he could about Voldemort to use against him in the future when he would become a far more powerful and fearsome opponent.

"I could say a lot of things. It's all in the past, and all to do with Tom. Tom is no part of me, just an empty soul wailing in a secure place..." Lily tapped her head, "He is nothing. He is a boy, the child of Riddle and his wife. The filthy Muggle abandoned his mother when she died in giving birth to Tom. My goal is to hunt down every single one of these muggles and half-bloods. Only then, will purebloods rule, and my father's and every one of his non-magical relatives' lineage will be wiped out."

"I see," Dumbledore said quietly. "And your mother? Did she have a name?"

By now, Lily had recognized the name Riddle. Wasn't that the name Flitwick had mentioned in his letter she had read at the orphanage?

…._the meeting of the two persons Marvolo Riddle and Caedmon County. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU DO THIS_….

Oh. Merlin.

Tom's hand flew up to his heart; he didn't feel so well, and he was breaking out in sweat. The apparition of Lily was literally shaking, struggling to remove itself from this man, this unspeakable object of evil, who claimed to be its future grandson.

"My lord, are you all right?" a cloaked figure inquired; his voice was unusually high-pitched and raspy all at once.

"Away!" Voldemort screamed, a blast of magical energy blowing from his wand's end. The man hurled backwards and was knocked off the cliff. His screams echoed not until he died, but simply because the distance had become too great for his voice to be heard.

With a roaring, sound that shook the earth, threatening to hurl everybody off the cliff, Lily voluntarily extracted herself from Voldemort's body. She had never been able to do this when possessing her son and adult self, but this was different. She'd touched the soul of Tom Riddle, angry and wailing to be let out of its prison in the Dark Lord's mind. She'd felt that unmistakable evil coursing through her very soul. She wanted _out_.

"_Tom's_ mother had a name: Charlene Evans."

Lily watched as the older man stiffened, the cloaked figures beginning to circle him. A few minutes passes and suddenly there was an enormous explosion—all Albus Dumbledore had done was he raised his wand, flicked it gently, murmuring an incantation—and the entire cliff was breaking apart, bright, white jets of light shooting from the ground. Screams echoed throughout her ears.

Lily knew it was then when Lord Voldemort first realized the healthy fear he had for the great wizard that she knew he still had even up to the time when her son would be just a few years older than she was now. Lord Voldemort was no longer cocky. He was now afraid of Albus Dumbledore, and would be for the years ahead.

The scene was growing more blurred…more blackened.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**November 1st, 1965**

Minerva McGonagall was forty-nine years old. Her raven hair showed no traces of old age, but her stern, set expression and immaculate, rigid posture suggested otherwise. As a child she'd been carefree, free-spirited, raised as a Muggle. As a teenager, she's been quite the pussycat with all her claws indeed, as a young woman a radical. Once she entered her thirties however, she gained more composure, divorced her husband of ten years, and applied for a teaching position at Hogwarts.

At age thirty-two, she started her first year and had been teaching ever since. At first, she was liberal, flexible. The students took advantage of her however, especially that Damien Malfoy, and over the years of her teaching, she remained fair, resolute, but she had hardened. She was not a professor to be crossed with, but unlike some certain Potions teachers she knew, she did not scare her first years into submission.

As of right now, she was discussing the strange, unexpected return of Tom Riddle with her Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. If she'd been ten years younger, he would've been her classmate, but by the time he was a sixth year, she'd already been twenty-nine and rallying for werewolf rights in front of the Ministry. That blasted Junior Doorman for the Ministry had blasted her right of there along with her fellow protestors (Fudge was it?). Well he was paying the price dearly now, for he was currently a pupil of Minerva McGonagall's. She smiled sadistically to herself.

"Something amusing, Minerva?" Dumbledore questioned her seriously.

Horrified at what she'd just done, McGonagall sought to redeem herself among her colleagues.

And failed miserably.

"I'm sorry Headmaster…my thoughts were elsewhere."

"I'd think many of us would like our thoughts to be elsewhere, but the present situation will not allow for that," Banes added snidely. He was the newest teacher at Hogwarts…and, as a girl with bright red hair noted while standing in the corner, concealed, would still be a professor when she and James would be attending in a mere five years' time.

Lily was surprised she'd just thought of James Potter. By all means, that boy was the last thing she should be thinking about now. She'd quickly realized that the year was nineteen sixty-five from her witness of that scene. It wasn't exactly ancient history, but it was important enough so that every child who was of age heard it from his or her parents in these times. Nineteen sixty-five…the Black Year, the year Voldemort had publicly announced his power and intentions to completely take over the world and stamp out all things Muggle. Including the four billion Muggles themselves.

"So it is concluded then?" Banes pressed, "You really think this hypothesis of yours will be correct?"

It was Minerva's turn to rebuff Banes.

"I would suppose," she said coolly, "that from your previous experience with the Headmaster that you would have observed that his hypotheses are most usually correct."

"Thank you Minerva," Dumbledore said, cutting Banes' response off.

Minerva smirked at him most triumphantly.

In the corner, Lily suppressed the urge to scoff at her younger, more immature Transfiguration professor.

Suddenly Dumbledore announced:

"I will then fetch the girl. Ms. Evans, would you like to come with me?" he asked.

All the professors swung around to see who their Headmaster was talking to. Once it dawned on them, they started to look very uncomfortable…which was nothing compared to what Lily was feeling.

"I…uh…" she stammered, "Where..uh…are you taking her? Who's the girl?"

Her heart, which was just now beginning to slow down after that traumatizing scene with the Dark Lord, was now speeding up again.

"Charlene Ann Evans. My former pupil, now deposed, and your daughter, Ms. Evans. And mine too…" the old man bowed his head in regret, eyes misting, "When I heard of her death, giving birth to that vile creature…."

Lily was reeling—she closed her eyes, but when she opened them again, the room was empty. All the teachers had departed from the room quickly, and Albus Dumbledore was besides her.

"I am terribly sorry for your situation Ms. Evans. It was a mistake that was purely mine—I was both young and…intoxicated. I should've realized then that Grindenwald did not have good intentions when extending his friendship towards me."

"Didn't you…"

"Kill him? Yes, I did. In 1945 to be precise."

"How did you find out that she was your daughter?" Lily asked, her hand still cradling her forehead.

"The Sorting Hat. The very first day she arrived at Hogwarts—you do remember that unusual Sorting do you? I recall seeing you there; it's not a chance many parents get, seeing their child Sorted. I requested to the former Headmaster if I could speak with the Hat, and although it wouldn't tell me much…only that things were very complex and that all I needed to know that I was her father and I needed to do my very best to preserve the timeline."

"Preserve the timeline!" Lily scoffed, remembering Flitwick's words. She then walked over to a poofy chair and sank into it, heaving a sigh.

"Yes. As much as it pains me to say this, Tom—Voldemort must come into existence. There may be a way…" Albus Dumbledore added thoughtfully, "There may be a way…and you can find it Lily, that way you can change the timeline and still preserve it. For all we know, Voldemort could be destined for greatness…but what sort of greatness we don't know. It can go _both ways_." Dumbledore winked at Lily.

Both ways?

Did that mean Lord Voldemort could be a good person? Never. Lily had been inside him; he was pure evil, that power…he could become unstoppable if Dumbledore wasn't careful.

But Harry's future. She'd seen it and he seemed relatively calm and relaxed, starting a family of his own.

"No," Albus shook his head, smiling, "You're right. He can never be good, but it is vital that you preserve the timeline. With that, the changes will come. The greatness."

He wasn't making any sense!

"At least…that is my understanding of it. Your son, Mr. Potter, has so kindly informed me when he traveled seeking for the very thing that would stop Voldemort. I remember…he was just a lad of seventeen, almost eighteen." Dumbledore smiled conspiratorially again. "I must say, I will become quite clever as I age."

And then the older man waved his wand around him, vanishing into thin air, chortling, and leaving a dumbfounded Lily behind.

**Hog's Head Bar**

**April 17th, 1899**

Albus Dumbledore was fifty-seven years old and quite drunk.

The Hog's Head was the most upscale bar there was in the late nineteenth century, soon to become the twentieth. Witches and wizards of only the highest aristocratic classes came in here, but Albus Dumbledore, being a renowned scholarly gentleman and the most powerful wizard there was to date in the current generation, was quite welcome here.

The man who was sitting besides him did not look quite welcome at all.

He had a long, silvery-white beard and wrinkled skin. He wore shabby, grey and black cloaks, bundled enough so that his face and body was obscured. Even worse, he was cradling a loudly squalling baby.

"Isn't she beautiful?" the man exclaimed fondly, "I've just adopted her…very ironic because I'm just about to drop her off."

"Drop her off?" Albus Dumbledore slurred. "Ummmm….where?"

"It goes against my better judgment," the old man's familiar voice responded, his shoulders shrugging, "But it's what my memories dictate. Here you go."

He dumped the squalling baby into Albus Dumbledore's arms.

"Wha—

This was enough to sober even Albus Dumbledore.

"What? WAIT!!!" But the old man was nowhere to be seen and he was left with the strangest-looking baby ever.

"What the—

He swore, he cursed, he kicked at the bar until he was kicked out. Great. Now all those people would probably be withdrawing their clientele from him the next morning.

And he was stuck with a suspicious, red-headed baby with a shock of black in it. What to do…

Oh yes. The old man had just dropped it in his arms. Well he could do the same.

That earned him a lot of curses and stinging hexes—not to mention what a 'ruddy terrible father' comments. Well what to do…

Oh yes. Drop it off with someone who couldn't sting you with a curse.

And it was at one-thirty in the morning, April 17th, 1899, that a quite cranky Madam Lund opened her door, only to find a screaming baby on her doorsteps.

She picked it up and checked for identification. There was a plastic bracelet around the baby's wrist that she'd never seen before.

_Charlene Ann Evans_

_# 834580_

_St. Mungo_

_6/10/1942_

"Well I'll be damned."


	14. A Turning Point

**A/N:** Yes, the worst is over…that is, FINALS! Actually they've been over for a month now, hehe. But to celebrate the 3.87 grade average I just got in the mail, I decided to post the latest installation of _Finding Lily Evans_!

Please be warned that this is more of a "musing" chapter, not that much actions. There's just ONE tedious explanation, and then there's more cosmic musing and time travel-y stuff…but this is the turning chapter. Afterwards, the story will begin to reach its climax and start to wrap up. -(

My other story, _When the Gods Intervene_ hasn't been doing as well, largely because it doesn't show up on the search engine. Please check it out and give me some encouragement since I just got an especially bad flame!

_Chain Reaction _will also be updated momentarily. Enjoy!

**Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft**

**November 1st, 1965**

Lily Evans stared at the empty space, dumbfounded, for a considerable length of time after the Headmaster disappeared. After a few moments had passed, Lily thought it best to look for Minerva McGonagall; at least she was a familiar face, if not a little bit more immature than Lily remembered.

Before she was able to step out, however, Albus Dumbledore returned smelling quite unappealing and with a smudge of dirt on his face and hands. Once charming himself clean and fresh-smelling, he gave Lily a polite smile.

"It has been done."

"What has been done?" There was an edge of panic to Lily's voice.

"The girl has been returned to her timeframe. Charlene Ann Evans was taken from 1942, I believe, and successfully deposited in 1899."

"_What!_ You took my daughter from the forties and…put her in the Dark Ages!"

"I would hardly," Dumbledore looked slightly put off, "call the brink of the twentieth century the…Dark Ages."

"Well I—

"Your opinion is simply a matter of perception and seeing as you have been born just six years earlier, I would think yours would be slightly…altered…on the topic of the nineteenth century."

"I just want an explanation!" Lily demanded, "I'm tired of jumping around, not having a clue as to what's going on. I want to know why my daughter was taken from a time with at least some of the bare modern conveniences and dumped in a time right before _both _World Wars AND the influenza epidemic!"

"Did you not get the letter from Flitwick?" Dumbledore inquired, his voice suddenly becoming hardened.

Lily's face contorted into an unreadable expression, but she shoved her hand in her robes' pocket and slammed an old, crinkled piece of notebook paper onto the staff table.

"Flitwick's letter," she declared unnecessarily.

"I don't need to see it. I helped him dictate him. The point is, it clearly explains that Charlene—

"Her name is _Cae_. But seeing as you, her estranged father, never spent any time with her—

"Miss Evans!" The old man had the decency to blush again, even after all these years, "I hardly could have spent any time with her. She was my student and we both agreed that establishing a father-daughter relationship would seem a little…forced. Besides," he narrowed his blue eyes, "This is _hardly_ the time to discuss this. What you need to understand before you go traipsing off into the next whirlwind of time, is that _Cae_ needs to encounter this man—

Dumbledore jammed his hand on a lone name scrawled onto the paper, which had magically unfolded itself.

_Marvolo Riddle._

"Marvolo Riddle," Lily repeated, breath growing short, "I remember now…Voldemort!" she hissed furiously, recalling the mountain encounter between Albus Dumbledore and Riddle.

"No, not Voldemort—

"His name was Tom—

"Thomas Marvolo Riddle," Dumbledore finished. "His father's name was Marvolo Riddle and—

"CAE WILL NOT MEET THIS MAN!" Lily roared, "I will do _everything _in my power to stop it! You said she died in childbirth—to that _foul_ creature that calls itself Voldemort—

"Yes. But Voldemort must come into existence."

"_Why_!" Lily shrieked.

"You have to understand, Miss Evans. Every world has its course. Events, no matter how terrible, must happen and not be tampered with. Think…if the Muggle phenomenon, the Holocaust, had never happened, they would never have gotten over the true horrors of racism and mass genocide. But it has taught them. They are slowly learning, that one event jolting them, that it is despicable, something that must be stopped. Similarly, Voldemort's ascension must happen or the wizarding community will never realize the dangers of isolating and being outright prejudiced against Muggles and their bloodlines. It also—" Dumbledore raised his hand to cut Lily off from saying something, "—it also is really very simple: get over with the worst now. Even if we stop Voldemort from ever happening, the world will have not learned its lesson and it will inevitably happen again in the future. We would simply be halting our development as a society."

Lily had to say, Dumbledore made a lot of sense. But that didn't change _her_ daughter marrying a horrible man, dying in childbirth, and having that very child grow up to be one of the most evil men to ever walk the earth.

"Cae really isn't that different from your son, Lily. Harry has known since eleven years old of his role as the one who defeated Voldemort, and he's known of the tremendous responsibility he's been assigned as the savior of the wizarding world since the age of fifteen. You forget, Cae has already lived her life, grown up at Hogwarts with me, and is now…dead," Dumbledore's eyes misted with tears. "We have discussed this together, her and I, since her second year. She knows of her responsibility as Harry knows his…and as you will know yours. Your responsibility is to ensure that everything falls into place, and only then can you return to your timeline."

"This sucks."

"I couldn't agree more," Albus smiled.

**Hogwarts Lake**

**September 2nd, 1911**

Instead of landing on a sturdy, hard ground as she was accustomed to, Lily screamed as she felt the stinging slap of the water hitting against her face and stomach. She gulped lakewater, choked, and broke the surface. The sky was dark, black as black, but it was dotted with glittering stars and a full moon, so she had some light to see where she was.

She recognized the Hogwarts Lake, and thankfully, she was only twenty feet from shore, but nevertheless, she started swimming very quickly. She had heard of the fearsome mermen who lived in the lake, and although the Giant Squid was known to be…tame…it was still wild and therefore one couldn't really rely on it to be friendly.

"Lily!" a small voice gasped, "What are you doing _here_?"

Lily blinked as she saw a tall, willowy girl with pale skin, red hair with a streak of black, and startling, mismatched eyes staring at her anxiously. She was wearing an old-fashioned Muggle bathing suit and crouching next to her was a boy with equally red hair, although he had a considerable amount of freckles.

"I'm…involuntarily being pulled into the time continuum," Lily spluttered, robes still dripping with water as she was on all fours, kneeling into the grassy slope. Up on the hill, she noticed the future site of the Whomping Willow.

**"**And what are _you_ doing out here, Cae, swimming in the middle of the night with—with—who the hell are you!" Lily shot daggers at the gangling boy next to Cae.

They both flushed furiously—it was after all, nineteen-eleven, and preteens were even more susceptible to being shamefaced than they are now.

"Um…mama, this is Cameron Weasley…he's my friend." Cae blushed again.

Lily sat on her butt, hard.

"Not another Weasley," she groaned, wringing her hair with her hands.

"Um…pardon?" Cameron frowned suspiciously.

"Nothing…." Lily sighed heavily.

Cameron was still intrigued: "So you're Cae's mum? I didn't expect you to look so…young." He poked Lily's arm, which earned him a dirty look from Cae and a shove from Lily.

"Don't you know about my _problem_?" Lily hissed.

"Stop!" Cae shouted, "Really! Mum, Cameron knows fully well what you are dealing with. His own great-grandfather was in the same situation, if you would believe that, and _Cameron_! Have some decency will you?"

"Pardon," Cameron mumbled.

"Is there something wrong?" Cae inquired worriedly, "You seem…different."

"I'm just a little disturbed at the fact that whenever I have children they turn out to be martyrs."

Cameron shot a suspicious look at Lily.

"You mean—" he began to say, before Cae cut him off.

"Goodness," she said dryly, "I most certainly am not a martyr. Have you been listening to Dumbledore? The gentleman does have an affinity for the melodramatic."

Lily noted that Cae's manner of speech had instantaneously become older and more polished.

In the meantime, Lily's eyes were adjusting to the night, and she could see Cameron and her now aging daughter's features more clearly. A stab of pain went through her as she saw the similarities between these two people, these ancestors, and their future descendants, her good friends.

In Cae, she saw the cold black eye of Severus, the twinkling blue eye with the flecks of Lily's own warm green, all staring right back at her, challenging. Her red hair was a combination of Lily's and Dumbledore's auburn that he possessed in his youth.

Lily quietly mused on the thirteen year-old and eighteen year-old Dumbledore she had encountered all those months ago. How different he was now! On the surface he seemed quite endearing and open, but in the duration of this journey throughout time, Lily had only witnessed the man underneath the kindly mask. He was not a man she much appreciated. It was a crueler, more straightforward man, one that had suppressed his desires for far too long, and now mutations in the personality were now being revealed because of this repressed Desire. How Lily longed for the charming, intelligent youth of Dumbledore!

The shock of black in Cae gleamed brightly in the moonlight, giving it almost a dark, blue hue. Lily only had the fortune to meet a sixteen year-old Snape and a Snape in his early twenties. Both personas did not reveal much, if anything, about the man Snape was about to become. As a first year and second year at Hogwarts, for Lily had aged three years for reasons unknown to her presently sixteen year-old body, Snape was a character she did not pay much attention to. All she had known was that he was a Slytherin that her foes, James and Sirius, did not much appreciate. She naturally averted from him, because of his fascination with the Dark Arts, and she was not particularly fond of his hair. To her, he had just been another gawky, fellow second year who just happened to be a bit paler and thinner than usual.

And now?...She didn't know what to think. Snape's face hovered in her mind, first a young, angular eleven year-old, slowly aging to twelve years. His face suddenly exploded into thousands of little bits…floating in the air….

They rearranged themselves, piecing together one by one, until they revealed an older, more masculine image. It was Snape at age sixteen, gazing at her, a bookshelf behind it…what a wonderful afternoon that was….

But then the fragments twisted and changed, the face growing more hardened and mature. It was now a man's face that stared at her, and a man's body, not an adolescent's.

She wasn't sure if she liked this man. He was immersed in Voldemort's ring of Death Eaters…and yet…there was a light glowing from the complete blackness of his form.

He aged a few more years, Voldemort was supposedly dead, and he was now about to initiate his teaching career at age twenty-one. He spiraled through his twenties, thirties….Then with a brilliant light, Lily saw the man he truly was. And she was glad he had fathered her daughter.

So Cae was a combination of these two men and of course, herself. Yes, she definitely had the potential to go awry in her development, her two fathers being quite the enigmas themselves. One who appeared to be good, but was simply masking a darker desire, the other momentarily displaying evil proudly, only to discover the innate goodness in him in his forties. Cae really could go quite wrong.

Lily was powerfully concerned for her daughter now, and at the same time she wasn't sure what her stance was on the whole Cae-meeting-Riddle affair.

"Lily?" Cae's voice was growing hazy, "Cameron…she's only been here for a few minutes and she's already disappearing…."

Cameron...The boy was truly astounding. All the features his descendants would have were clearly marked. She could see William Weasley's stockiness, his freckled face and bright green eyes blinking at her…He twisted and aged, disappeared only to reveal Arthur Weasley's lanky frame; he had blue eyes. Lily knew him as a seventh year when she was still in her second year at Hogwarts. He was handsome enough, but not extraordinarily so, especially when compared with the likes of James and Sirius. Arthur's hair started to bald, his face becoming more angular, hardened, his body leaner….

A young man towered over Lily…his frame was lanky like his father's, but it had more beef on it. His shoulders were slightly broader, his hair longer, his face hardened, gloomy, but still possessing the remnants of a joking, innocent expression.

"Hang in there will you?" the young man spoke to Lily, his voice booming. Lily recognized him as Ron Weasley, her own son's best friend. She had never seen him at such an older age before….

Fred and George, and several other redheads who she presumed to be the Weasley family were all walking towards her now. They lay on their backs, infants, squalling loudly, rolled over on their stomachs and started crawling only to slap their hands in the grass, slowly pulling themselves up as proud, wobbling toddlers. They walked, uneasy at first, and then their steps grew more assured, confident. They started running…great leaps, their legs growing longer, their torsos lengthening, faces changing and growing….

The first traces of muscles started rippling and the boys' bodies grew older and older…the muscles gave way to the middle-aged leanness of the Weasleys, hair grew longer and thinner, eyes grew harder and lined….

Lily's chest was wet and sticky. She touched a spot where her robes had torn long ago, and discovered there was a faint trickle of blood from a shallow cut. She wondered where she had gotten it….a sharp thud of pain spasmed through her eye and it began to swell, turning black.

"Mum!" Cae shrieked.


End file.
